Grow It and Cook It Theme Camp-Garden-to-Table Cooking Activities for Kids-Digital Download

Grow It & Cook It – Gardening & Cooking Unit for Kids

91 Printable Pages • Plant-to-Plate Learning • Gardening Guides • Vegetable & Herb Recipes • Food Facts • Hands-On Cooking

Go from seed to garden to kitchen with the Grow It & Cook It Theme Camp! This 91-page printable unit combines gardening and cooking to help kids discover where food comes from and what they can make with the vegetables and herbs they grow.

Kids can learn about planting and caring for different foods, explore facts about featured vegetables and herbs, and then head into the kitchen to prepare them in kid-friendly recipes.

Use it as a complete plant-to-plate project or choose individual sections for homeschool science, FCS/FACS, life skills, gardening clubs, summer camps, nutrition lessons or family garden projects.

What's Included

• 91 printable pages
• Tips for growing a variety of vegetables and herbs
• Planting and gardening information for kids
• Food facts for featured vegetables and herbs
• Nutrition information for featured foods
• Cooking and preparation tips
• 3–4 kid-friendly recipes for each featured vegetable or herb
• Additional gardening-themed recipes
• Ideas for connecting gardening and cooking
• Printable PDF digital download

Learn Where Food Comes From

Before food reaches a grocery store or kitchen, it has to grow somewhere!

This unit helps kids make that connection by introducing them to vegetables and herbs they can grow and cook with. Along the way, children can explore questions such as:

• How does this food grow?
• What does the plant need to grow successfully?
• Which part of the plant do we eat?
• When is it ready to harvest?
• How can we prepare it?
• What recipes can we make with it?

Grow Vegetables & Herbs

Use the gardening information to introduce kids to growing a variety of edible plants.

Depending on your space and growing season, activities can be adapted for a backyard garden, raised beds, containers or other suitable growing areas.

Kids can participate in different stages of the process, including:

• Planting
• Watering
• Caring for plants
• Watching and recording growth
• Identifying vegetables and herbs
• Harvesting
• Preparing harvested foods for cooking

Cook What You Grow

The cooking component helps complete the plant-to-plate experience.

Each featured vegetable or herb includes 3–4 kid-friendly recipes, giving kids several ways to prepare and taste the foods they're learning about.

Cooking activities also provide opportunities to practice:

• Reading recipes
• Measuring ingredients
• Washing produce
• Preparing vegetables and herbs
• Mixing and assembling
• Following step-by-step directions
• Using kitchen tools
• Kitchen organization and cleanup

Food Facts & Nutrition Learning

Featured foods include additional facts and nutrition information that can be used alongside the gardening and cooking activities.

Kids can learn more about the foods they're growing while making connections between plants, food and everyday meals.

The nutrition information is intended for general educational use and can be used to encourage discussion and further exploration.

A Complete Plant-to-Plate Project

For the full experience, begin the unit by planting seeds or starter plants.

As the plants grow, kids can learn about the featured foods, help care for the garden and explore related activities. When produce is ready to harvest, choose recipes from the unit and use the food you've grown in the kitchen.

This creates a memorable sequence:

PLANT → GROW → HARVEST → PREPARE → COOK → TASTE

Combine Cooking with Science

Gardening provides plenty of opportunities to extend the unit beyond the kitchen.

Kids can explore topics such as:

• What plants need to grow
• Seeds and germination
• Plant parts
• Roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits
• Plant growth
• Where vegetables come from
• Harvesting food
• How fresh produce is prepared and cooked

Life Skills Through Gardening & Cooking

Working in both the garden and kitchen gives kids opportunities to practice practical skills such as:

• Following directions
• Measuring
• Planning ahead
• Caring for something over time
• Observing changes
• Food preparation
• Kitchen organization
• Cleaning up
• Trying different foods

Use It as a Summer Camp

Grow It & Cook It works especially well as a spring or summer project because gardening provides a natural way to spread activities over several weeks.

Choose vegetables and herbs that work for your location and growing season, then build cooking activities around what becomes available to harvest.

Perfect For

• Kids gardening and cooking camps
• Homeschool science
• FCS/FACS
• Life skills lessons
• Garden clubs
• School garden programs
• Nutrition and food units
• Cooking classes
• Summer learning
• After-school programs
• Family garden projects
• Farm-to-table lessons
• Plant and food studies

Product Details

• 91 printable pages
• Gardening and growing information
• Vegetable and herb food facts
• Nutrition information
• Cooking and preparation tips
• 3–4 recipes for each featured vegetable or herb
• Additional garden-themed recipes
• Gardening + cooking learning activities
• PDF digital download

Please Note

• This is a digital download; no physical book will be mailed
• Seeds, plants, ingredients and gardening supplies are not included
• Actual growing results and harvest times vary by plant, climate and growing conditions
• Some recipes require cooking or baking facilities
• Adult supervision should be provided based on the child's age, experience and activity
• Cooking activities may involve knives, ovens, stovetops, appliances or hot ingredients
• Nutrition information is provided for general educational purposes

Digital Download

Download the 91-page printable PDF after checkout and start exploring how food travels from seed to garden to kitchen.

View Grow It & Cook It in our store.