Nursery-aged children across Scarborough will learn how to grow their own food and develop healthy lifestyles through a newly funded community programme.
Young children across Scarborough will soon be getting their hands dirty to learn about gardening and healthy eating. A new initiative is set to inspire a generation of young growers by providing early years settings with the tools to teach active lifestyles and outdoor learning.
The programme is being delivered by the organisation Grow to School in collaboration with the North Yorkshire Healthy Early Years Programme, following a donation from McCain Community Partners. Participating nurseries and early years settings will receive practical training, resources, and ongoing support to bring the garden into the classroom.
Each participating setting is being given a Growbag Early Years Toolkit. This includes planting packs and resources specifically designed to support growing activities throughout the entire year.
The first of three training sessions takes place tomorrow at Coast and Vale Community Action in Scarborough. Early years practitioners from across the area will gather to learn sowing and growing techniques, explore effective ways of working with nursery-aged children, and discover how to use the Early Years Activity Book to encourage outdoor engagement and exploration.
Ama Chaney, one of the directors of Grow to School, said:
"Showing, exciting and engaging children at the earliest age has the potential to change attitudes to food. This excitement can be carried home and enable connections with community growing across Scarborough."
Throughout the year, Healthy Early Years Programme Officer Ruth Stacey will work closely with the settings. She will support them in achieving their Healthy Early Years Award, placing a particular focus on healthy food and active lives.
Tomorrow's launch event will also feature presentations from local community organisations. David Stone from Coast and Vale Community Action will introduce the organisation's Good to Grow project. Meanwhile, Darren Mancrieff from Grow Scarborough will highlight opportunities for families and settings to get involved in community growing initiatives across the town.
Beyond the initial training, participants will receive an online support session in January and February. This will be followed by further in-person training events in March, May, and June. These future sessions will focus on seasonal growing opportunities, outdoor learning, and practical ways to embed gardening into everyday early years practice.
Ultimately, the project aims to give young children hands-on experiences of growing food. Organisers hope this will develop healthy habits from an early age while strengthening connections between nurseries, families, and community growing projects across Scarborough.
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