We’re Gardeners!
That's what my four-year-old granddaughter says as we plant fall crops. I always tell folks who work with kids in gardens, it's not about the plants. It's about the kids.
Connecting Kids and Healthy Food
How much do you love healthy, local food? How hard do you have to work to find it and get it to your table? How important is it to you to have your kids eat healthy food that's grown close to where you live?
Get Kids Moving
The outdoors is the best place to be as we fight Covid-19 and experience the beauty of fall. Don't miss the opportunity on warm days for water play, bike rides, creek walking and neighborhood mapping. Go ahead and get lost!
Learning in the Garden–Lessons & More
Mapping skills, experiments, graphs, and life cycles. The lessons in this post take you through the whole garden year, from planning and planting, to caring for and harvesting in the garden.
Plant a Garden
I’m gardening with the Earth Heroes from Carver Community School‘s Boys and Girls Club this season. When I first saw how little these mostly second graders are, I thought there’s no way they can farm the 20 raised beds at …
Growing Food in Science Class
Each spring I enjoy starting vegetable plants indoors. My grow lights are set up on shelves next to my desk shining on peppers, tomatoes, onions, eggplant, and herbs this year. I cheer for the little sprouts as they slowly emerge …
Lead & Coordinate
Sometimes an adventure begins with an unexpected opportunity; when new doors open, Next Step is happy to step into a leadership role, do some problem solving, organizing, bringing a fresh look to your work. The work has often grown from …
Create & Develop
With a team that includes visionaries, teachers, an artist, a counselor and a scientist, we have a big wheelhouse for making something from… well, whatever we start with. Next Step uses a unique blend of fun, mindfulness, creativity, evaluation, intuition, …
Teach & Facilitate
With more than 75 years combined experience in classrooms, camps, hospitals, afterschool and church programs, the Next Step team collaborates with schools, individuals, and organizations to help kids and grownups learn new stuff. Whether it’s a special yoga class for …