Summer Camp Registration Opens on Saturday, February 15th at 9 AM
For information and registration visit https://www.lifelab.org/camp
The Santa Cruz area is home to robust, long standing gardens and innovative school meal programs. Join us to visit resilient school gardens and scratch cooking school meal programs that are exemplary of the programming that has been running for decades.
Learn more and register here: https://www.lifelab.org/santa-cruz-area-school-food-and-garden-tour
Learn to use a garden to breathe life into standards-based lessons, promote ecological literacy, encourage a love of nourishing foods, and support students’ social development. Using Life Lab’s The Growing Classroom activity guide for grades K-6, participants in this hands-on workshop experience tried-and-true garden-based lessons linked to Common Core Language Arts and Math and Next Generation Science Standards; practice basic gardening techniques; and develop management strategies for a school garden program. Graduate education units available.
Learn More and Register Here: https://www.lifelab.org/the-growing-classroom
Learn to use a school garden to provide a meaningful context in which students can apply their emerging skills in math, English language arts, science and social studies. Using lessons from using lessons drawn from all of Life Lab’s curriculum participants in this workshop will experience and discuss garden activities. Whether they are graphing the temperature of their compost pile over time; reading a recipe to make fresh salsa; writing a story from the perspective of an ant; or presenting to a buddy class on the animals that visited their sunflower patch, the opportunities for children to practice traditional academic subjects in the garden are limitless! Graduate education unit available.
Learn more and register here: https://www.lifelab.org/curriculum-connections-in-the-garden
Make the connection from seed to table in this fun and delicious workshop. Using tried-and-true Life Lab lessons and recipes for grades K-8, participants explore effective ways to teach nutrition and encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables through hands-on activities with food, including harvesting and meal preparation. Graduate education units available.
Learn more and register here: https://www.lifelab.org/plant-to-plate
Join School Garden Leaders in Santa Cruz, CA for 4 full days of Sharing and Learning!
Apply by January 22, 2025
Apply here www.lifelab.org/sgso-institute
Every year, the School Garden Support Organization Leadership Institute provides an opportunity for school garden professionals from across the country to collaborate, learn from one another, and develop resources to share with a national audience. In this way, we all become able to better support school gardens in our regions, and also advance the national school garden movement.
The 2025 SGSO Leadership Institute Will Prioritize Garden to Cafeteria Programs
The 2025 SGSO Leadership Institute will prioritize applicants representing school food service, school gardens/farms, district level farms and organizations developing or managing farm/garden to cafeteria programs.
Each team invited to attend will send 2 key leaders to the Institute. Teams can be comprised of two people from the same organization, or two individuals from different organizations who work closely together to support multiple school gardens in their region.
We Are Particularly Seeking Teams Interested in:
– Enhancing trainings for garden-based educators planned for 2025-26
– Approaching garden education with a lens of equity and inclusion
– Developing or are working to enhance, school or school district farm/garden to cafeteria programs.
Cost: Sliding scale based on organizational budget. Travel stipends available.
Celebrate the beauty of nature by crafting unique gifts from the garden at this free, family-friendly event.
Everyone will leave with the crafts they create and you will also get a sneak peek of the activities we typically offer during our Summer Camps!
Crafts Available:
Flower BookMarks / Greeting Cards
Veggie Print Wrapping Paper / Greeting Cards
Succulent Cork Magnets
Family Tea Bags
Leaf Rubbing Cards
Seedy Mosiacs / Ornaments
Painted Rocks or mini pots
Burlap Wrapped Seedlings
Donations are appreciated and will help support this event and our programs. If you would like to donate craft supplies, please email kelsey@lifelab.org
Directions to Life Lab: lifelab.org/visiting
The Santa Cruz area is home to robust, long standing school food and garden programs. Join us to visit resilient school gardens and innovative scratch cooking school meal programs that are exemplary of the programming that has been running for decades.
The 2024 Harvest Festival will feature live music, an apple pie baking contest, kids' activities, pumpkins for sale, delicious food, and more!
$5 admission / Free admission for kids under 12, UCSC, Hartnell College, and Cabrillo College students with a student ID, Semillas program families, and Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden members. Please pre-register with credit card or pay cash at the gate.
Bicycling, car pooling, ridesharing, and public transportation are encouraged as parking is limited. If you drive to the event, please plan to park in UCSC Lot #104 (East Remote parking lot) and walk or take a complimentary shuttle to the farm. There will be directional signage to help you get to the correct parking lot and farm entrances.
Please bring a reusable water bottle to save plastic and stay hydrated! Pets are not allowed on the UC Santa Cruz campus (with the exception of service animals).
Learn to facilitate engineering experiences for students in the garden! Participants will engage in a 3rd-5th grade unit designed for Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), in which students design and build trellises for peas in the school garden. We will make observations; design, build and test prototypes; and then build full-size trellises to grow peas. By unpacking this unit, we will learn how to facilitate engineering experiences that address real problems or needs in school gardens. You will leave with resources to lead this unit, and also a framework for designing your own engineering in the garden unit.
Building on Life Lab’s 40+ years of experience in the school garden movement, we’ve put together a virtual course that will guide and support educators in becoming a Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator!
Cohort 9: 8 Week Program
Live classes will be held on Zoom, every Monday and Wednesday, from 3:30 - 5:00 PT.
September 9, 2024 - October 30, 2024
Building on Life Lab’s 40+ years of experience in the school garden movement, we’ve put together a virtual course that will guide and support educators in becoming a Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator!
Cohort 8: 16 Week Program
Live classes will be held on Zoom, every Tuesday, from 3:30 - 5:00 PT.
August 27, 2024 - Dec 10, 2024
Learn to use a garden to breathe life into standards-based lessons, promote ecological literacy, encourage a love of nourishing foods, and support students’ social development. Using Life Lab’s The Growing Classroom activity guide for grades K-6, participants in this hands-on workshop experience tried-and-true garden-based lessons linked to Common Core Language Arts and Math and Next Generation Science Standards; practice basic gardening techniques; and develop management strategies for a school garden program. Graduate education units available.
Spend a day looking at the garden through the eyes of a young child. Using Life Lab's Sowing the Seeds of Wonder activity guide for preschool and kindergarten, participants in this workshop sample activities designed to encourage young children to learn about the world using their senses; practice basic gardening skills with a focus on gardening with young children; discuss safe and age-appropriate garden design; and learn garden art projects and songs for preschoolers. Graduate education unit available.
Join Life Lab at Earth Day 2024. Stop by the Life Lab table to learn about planting seeds, taking care of plants, and for free seeds, soil and starters!
How can we possibly manage 30 students in an Outdoor Classroom?! Participants in this workshop will explore best practices for establishing and maintaining a positive, engaging culture of learning and fun in a garden setting. Together we will experience and discuss setting the tone for equitable and inclusive instruction; garden class routines; station rotations; and specific techniques to maximize student engagement and participation.
A national gathering designed to support our shared work to strengthen the school garden movement at local and national levels so that all children and youth can have vibrant, resilient school garden programs.
Building on Life Lab’s 40 years of experience in the school garden movement, we’ve updated and put together a series of 4 virtual courses that will guide and support educators in becoming a Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator. Upon completion of the full 16-week course, participants will receive a certificate and the distinction of being a Life Lab – Certified Garden Educator!
Every year, the School Garden Support Organization Leadership Institute provides an opportunity for school garden professionals from across the country to collaborate, learn from one another, and develop resources to share with a national audience. In this way, we all become able to better support school gardens in our regions, and also advance the national school garden movement.
Make the connection from seed to table in this fun and delicious workshop. Using tried-and-true Life Lab lessons and recipes for grades K-8, participants explore effective ways to teach nutrition and encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables through hands-on activities with food, including harvesting and meal preparation. Graduate education units available.
How can we possibly manage 30 students in an Outdoor Classroom?! Participants in this workshop will explore best practices for establishing and maintaining a positive, engaging culture of learning and fun in a garden setting. Together we will experience and discuss setting the tone for equitable and inclusive instruction; garden class routines; station rotations; and specific techniques to maximize student engagement and participation. Graduate education units available.
Building on Life Lab’s 40 years of experience in the school garden movement, we’ve updated and put together a series of 4 virtual courses that will guide and support educators in becoming a Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator. Upon completion of the full 16-week course, participants will receive a certificate and the distinction of being a Life Lab – Certified Garden Educator!
Learn to use a garden to breathe life into standards-based lessons, promote ecological literacy, encourage healthy eating, and support students’ social development. Using Life Lab’s The Growing Classroom activity guide for grades K-6, participants in this hands-on workshop, experience tried-and-true garden-based lessons linked to Common Core Language Arts and Math and Next Generation Science Standards; practice basic gardening techniques; and develop management strategies for a school garden program. Graduate education units available.
How can we possibly manage 30 students in an Outdoor Classroom?! Participants in this workshop will explore best practices for establishing and maintaining a positive, engaging culture of learning and fun in a garden setting. Together we will experience and discuss setting the tone for equitable and inclusive instruction; garden class routines; station rotations; and specific techniques to maximize student engagement and participation. Graduate education units available.
