Eco-Tots will be able to participate in a number of interactive stations.

Join us! Together, we will:

• Feed and interact with our farm chickens
• Use compost tea and harvested rainwater to water our gardens
• Create art inspired by the garden
• Explore our sensory garden box
• Make music and sing guided garden songs

At Eco Tots, kids and their parents will enjoy a sensory, hands-on learning experience of the wonders of the garden. As you explore the farm and our Eco-Labs with the guidance of our experienced instructor, your child will observe garden critters, play a scavenger hunt, engage in finger painting, earth art, and so much more.

The Ecology Center’s stimulating outdoor learning environment includes a diverse and holistic landscape of a native garden, vegetable beds, a greenhouse, and chicken coop. Each element will excite your child’s imagination while connecting them with the natural rhythms of life. This fun experience will form the building blocks to a healthy, active, and conscious future.

Regardless of age, exposure to gardening and outdoor activities increases wellbeing and contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Numerous studies show that gardening is an especially exciting and rewarding experience for children. Check out some of the many ways children (and parents!) benefit from an outdoor garden experience.

IMPROVED NUTRITION

Exposure to gardening “may affect children’s vegetable consumption, including improved recognition of, attitudes toward, preferences for, and willingness to taste vegetables. Gardening also increases the variety of vegetables eaten.” In other words, it’s pretty cool to eat what you grow!

INCREASED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Gardening requires a range of motion, using both the upper and lower body. The physical task of gardening can contribute to a broader understanding of the various ways kids can stay active.

IMPROVED MENTAL HEALTH

Getting outside and getting your hands dirty is a great stress release for both parents and children. Beyond the action of gardening itself, simply viewing green spaces and being in nature has a positive restorative influence on mental health.

INCREASED ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Garden education creates a positive shift in children’s attitudes about the environment. Interacting with the outdoors generates a greater awareness of the importance of natural cycles.

IMPROVED  SOCIAL SKILLS & INTERACTION

By interacting with each other in nature, children learn to express, interact, and respond to social stimulus in positive ways; both verbally and non-verbally. By learning in a healthy outdoor environment surrounded by good company, engaging activities, and chances to interact with different types of personalities, children develop a range of interpersonal skills that become the foundation of their personality.