We’ve been working on this for months, and we finally get to share it with everyone – Iowa Kids Garden Day registration is open here!
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 (or anytime in May!)
Save the date for Wednesday, May 21, 2025, and celebrate Iowa Kids Garden Day! School and ECEs are encouraged to host an event, joining with others across the state to celebrate children and educators growing and eating delicious food.
Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 Location: Schools, early care centers, and community organizations across Iowa Activity: Planting or caring for a garden
At our core, we believe in the power of growing together—whether that’s through planting seeds, cultivating relationships, or creating lasting change within our communities. That’s why we are so excited about our work with the Iowa Farm to School & Early Care Coalition, a collaborative effort that has been laying the groundwork for a healthier, more sustainable future for Iowa’s children.
The Iowa Farm to School & Early Care Coalition brings together schools, early care programs, farmers, government agencies, and community partners to foster connections between local food systems and young learners. The work we do helps to strengthen these partnerships, encouraging kids to explore where their food comes from, build healthy eating habits, and understand the importance of sustainable agriculture.
For many months, we have been working behind the scenes to coordinate a new statewide event in partnership with the coalition. On Wednesday, May 21, we will celebrate the first annual Iowa Kids Garden Day—an exciting event that will bring Iowa’s children, educators, and farmers together to celebrate the joy of gardening, fresh food, and learning.
Sites are asked to register to put their site on the map. Registration will open on March 5th, 2025 for schools, early care sites, and community organizations. At each site, coordinators will organize a variety of gardening activities for children and educators.
Iowa Kids Garden Day Every is an annual celebration occurring on the third Wednesday of May. Join us in bringing recognition to the people and programs providing these innovative, hands-on learning opportunities. Learn more about hosting a site in your community!
She’s been looking for the Teachers Going Green curriculum for a couple years. And she’s had requests from teachers. The lessons haven’t been available for several years, but NOW THEY ARE!
And they are even better than they were before. Ashley updated them to a format similar to the lessons Sara developed for Waukee Schools a couple years ago. Those lessons empower teachers to use their extensive school gardens to teach the science curriculum.
Kids can learn science concepts experientially, while they’re getting outdoors, and learning about healthy food.
Since we developed the first Teachers Going Green lessons in 2009, the Iowa Core was changed to become the Iowa Academic Standards. Ashley combed through the standards and existing lessons to make sure they align.
She also reviewed and evaluated the lessons we’re now making available to you, for quality and clarity. We’re proud to say they come up to the standards you’ve come to expect from Next Step Adventure.
We’re excited to offer this new resource to you for your classrooms and other programs. Please take the opportunity to share it with your colleagues and friends. And let us know how you’re using it, and how it works.
Kids and dirt go together, well like dirt on kids. These two kiddos are collecting roly polies in our raised bed garden. June has worked these beds since before she was one, but now she’s six, and her interest in gardening is overshadowed by dance, first grade, and playing pretend. Still, yesterday, she picked a Jimmy Nardello pepper and ate it all up. When kids grow their own food, they’ll eat it!
This is our very October garden with compost cage, volunteer pumpkin and squash. We still have potatoes and carrots to harvest. But our garden is only my personal part of Next Step’s contribution to the Farm to School movement. And the movement has really picked up steam in Iowa over the last several years. Next Step developed Teachers Going Green beginning in 2009 to help teachers connect gardening with the Iowa Academic Standards.
Since then we’ve worked with local schools in Des Moines, Waukee and Iowa City to name a few. Our focus is on the education–We developed School Garden 101, also for Keep Iowa Beautiful. We plan to make the Teachers Going Green lessons available on our website in the near future, with some updates to reflect changes to the Education Standards.
Sara Lockie and the rest of the teamtrain teachers and other youth professionals to work with kids in the garden. One important thing to remember is that it’s not about the plants. It’s about the kids.
But we’ve branched out from developing activities and lessons to coordinating Iowa State University’s Farm to School & Early Child Care coalition statewide. These efforts will expand the Farm to School movement far beyond the reach of Next Step Adventure alone. This year they’ve set goals to develop resources and better access to already existing curriculum.
Eating AsparagusSprouts GardenCompost with WormsOctober gardenSeedlings started indoorsBean plants in a clear cup. Roots can be viewed through the cup. Community gardenGarden trainingTeachers + Dirt = FunRoly Poly DaycareWatering the seedsEarth Hero Daren Leading Name WaveWorld of Difference GirlsGuacamolePractical Farmers Team Building Day
Art is unique in requiring that hands and mind be in the same place. Distraction and anxiety are at the forefront of challenges for Des Moines Art Center Outreach students. Art class provides opportunities for quiet, focus and mindfulness.
With this Clean and Green Second Grade Program Guide, the first phase of the Keep Iowa Beautiful service learning, litter-free schools, environmental education, character building program is officially ready for piloting! With help from the Waste Commission of Scott County, Character Counts! in Iowa, Davenport Public Schools, we are ready to send teachers and kids out to the playground and community to find ways to make them better while they are learning the essential concepts of the Common Core Second Grade State Standards for Mathematics, Life Science, Social Studies, Literacy and 21st Century Skills. The Second Grade Matrix of 20 activities is based on the Core and the Four Keys of Character Education-safe, challenging community, self study, other study and public performance-to assure that we help teachers incorporate best practice in their classrooms.
The guide is flexible; it has engaging activities for the classroom, afterschool and summer programs. Each of the activities can stand on its own, but it will be more powerful if used as a comprehensive unit. During this pilot year, we’ll collect feedback from as many of you as possible, and change the program guide in response to that feedback. Watch this Web Site for online surveys, send feedback to Martha McCormick, or add your comments to this post itself.
I am excited to present the Clean and Green First Grade Program Guide. Thanks to Keep Iowa Beautiful, the Waste Commission of Scott County and Character Counts! in Iowa, we are ready to pilot it in Davenportschools. The guide is flexible; it has engaging activities for the classroom, afterschool and summer programs. Each of the activities can stand on its own, but it will be more powerful if used as a comprehensive unit. During this pilot year, we’ll collect feedback from as many of you as possible, and change the program guide in response to your feedback. Watch this Web Site for online surveys, send feedback to Martha McCormick, or add your comments to this post itself.
The Clean and Green First Grade Matrix of 20 activities is based on the Common Core First Grade Standards for Mathematics, Life Science, Social Studies, Literacy and 21st Century Skills. We used the Four Keys of Character Education-safe, challenging community, self study, other study and public performance-as the other axis of the matrix to assure that we help teachers incorporate best practice in their classrooms.
Each of the activities can stand on its own, but it is more powerful if used as a comprehensive unit. During this pilot year, we’ll collect feedback from as many people as possible, and change the program guide in response to your feedback. Watch this Web Site for online surveys, send feedback to Martha McCormick, or add your comments to this post itself.
The Clean and Green Kindergarten Matrix of 20 activities is based on the Common Core Standards for Mathematics, Life Science, Social Studies, Literacy and 21st Century Skills. We used the Four Keys of Character Education–safe, challenging community, self study, other study and public performance–as the other axis of the matrix to assure that we help teachers incorporate best practice in their classrooms.
…all organized around the Iowa Core and Common Core Standards. I’m using this post to run things by the Steering Committee, get reactions and involve them in pulling it together. I’ll make changes to the resources and continually update the committee as the program comes together.
Help us stay on task by posting comments to this page. Here are some of the resources we used to develop the program guide.
Service learning is more than picking up litter and cutting down trees. Kids and adults can have fun and learn a lot from doing such activities together. But to have a bigger impact, service learning must be well planned and provide opportunities for reflection and feedback.
Experiences with the best outcomes include youth voice and choice, varied processing opportunities and reflection that informs future planning. Here are some resources to help you get started.
Do you have a group of youth that might be interested in creating social change, but isn’t sure?
The Iowa Outdoor Youth Summit was held at Springbrook Conservation Center on April 10 and 11. Groups from across Iowa put together both local and state plans for addressing “Nature Deficit Disorder.”
We used the Outdoor Bill of Rights Survey to plan the Summit; you can take it here, and see the results here.
Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Location: Schools, early care centers, and community organizations across Iowa
Activity: Planting or caring for a garden
