Growing Little Gardeners: How Garden to Table is Inspiring Tamariki Early

Our partner charity, Garden to Table, is helping children discover the joy of growing and sharing their own food. From kindy gardens to shared meals, tamariki are gaining life skills that nourish bodies, families, and communities alike.

For 15 years, Garden to Table has been empowering primary and intermediate-aged children to grow, harvest, prepare, and share fresh kai. Now, they’ve taken their mission a step further by reaching Early Childhood Centres too.

Twelve kindergartens and Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres are already part of the programme, and a new set of fun, hands-on resources has been created especially for younger learners. These include visual recipes and sensory activities that make exploring food and nature playful and meaningful.

A powerful example of this kaupapa in action is Flat Bush Kindergarten in Tāmaki Makaurau- Auckland, where tamariki are now actively gardening and preparing kai. What makes this even more special is the relationship with Flat Bush School next door, also a Garden to Table school. Together, the kindy and school share produce, eggs, tools, and knowledge, creating a seamless food education journey as tamariki grow and move through to primary school.

 Kindergartens and ECEs have high family involvement and provide amazing connections with whānau through sharing, stories and community events. Community gardens have become a focus near ECE centres, getting the whole community involved. Tamariki bring their new knowledge home - sharing tips, talking about what they've grown and cooked, and sometimes even encouraging their families to try new ways of gardening or cooking together.

Island Bay Kindergarten in Wellington often invite whānau to join in the cooking and gardening processes. One child took home a sunflower seed and harvested the giant sunflower that bloomed, sharing the seeds back to his kindy friends. Sharing his experiences, knowledge of the seed cycle and a valuable resource with his family and peers was such an empowering experience for this 4-year-old. 

Another wonderful outcome of Garden to Table in ECE is the willingness of young children to try a more diverse range of foods when they’ve helped grow or prepare it themselves. Tamariki at Pakuranga Baptist Kindergarten have been enthusiastically trying a range of vegetables including Moroccan carrot salad, spinach and chickpea patties and apple and cucumber salad with many tamariki trying things they wouldn’t usually eat at home. 

Here’s what some of the tamariki had to say: 

“Gardens make special food. We made risotto. It tasted good. We grow our own veggies so they don’t have to come from the supermarket and go in an airplane or truck. We might grow some at home if my mummy and daddy build a veggie garden. We planted more flowers for the bees and butterflies and birds – every creature that’s got wings, so they can collect pollen and make us vegetables and fruit.” – Madeleine

“I like getting vegetables. I found a caterpillar. It was fun cutting up the spinach. I even like cleaning the table up and putting out the plates. I liked the spinach balls and risotto and salad, but I didn’t like the green thing.” – Judah

By getting young children gardening and cooking, we are investing now in their future. This will achieve longer-term health, social, economic, and environmental benefits for New Zealand children, families and communities. Imagine if children experience Garden to Table from ECE, Primary right through to Secondary Schools.

"Our dream is that growing, cooking, and sharing great kai becomes a normal part of everyday life for tamariki and whānau in Aotearoa New Zealand.” says Garden to Table CEO, Ani Brunet. 

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Words and images supplied by Garden to Table.