The Learning Garden
Your donation goes a long way to providing top quality Educational and Arts programming for our community.Our Learning Garden Plan
Oak Learners is committed to teaching children with experiential and meaningful resources. The Mimico Community is a beautiful, progressing area. The seasonal flowers, the painted tulips, and small businesses, all make the community a brighter and more welcoming space. Oak Learners wants to be a part of that change and progression, by incorporating the Learning Garden.
The Learning Garden focuses on using the back area of Oak Learners to input planters, along with expanding the green space around the city’s tree plots. The use of flowers will create a greener and even more beautiful space, allowing nature to thrive, along with expanding the children’s opportunity to learn!
2023 Garden Upgrades
This year, we are collaborating with conservation and educational partners to add more upgrades to our Learning Garden and create a space that is not only teaching our students important lessons about urban gardening ecosystems while also moving towards a focus on sustainability and including pollinator-friendly plants for bees and butterflies.
Our Plans for the Learning Garden
Our Progress
Our Favourite Recipes
Squash Exploration
Comparing and contrasting food is a great way to ask exploratory open-ended questions about how a food engages our senses and later transition to questions on taste. Encourage curiosity and critical thinking by listing observations and making predictions about the squash varieties before you start cooking. Here are some examples from our recent Urban Farming & Cooking Class:
Personalized Guacamole
The key to promoting open-mindedness and excitement over trying new foods with kids is providing them as much control and decision-making power as possible. Trust is reciprocal, and as your child feels trusted with decisions and contributing to the cooking process, they’ll feel like they can trust the space to openly assess how they taste something
Baked Zoodle Cups
Zoodles are an accessible way to put your child in charge of the meal’s main event, while making something visually interesting and with a firmer texture then sliced or chopped options. Engage in some sensory exploration by challenging them to make and find the longest zoodle they can, and count the rings remaining on the end of a spiralized zucchini. This recipe is as great for exploring tastes as it is for enhancing fine and gross motor skills!
Snowflake Cooking Coleslaw
The versatility of cabbage when cooking with kids cannot be emphasized enough. Whether you’re lighting roasting or sautéing the leaves to introduce some oil and salt tastes, searing cabbage-steaks to absorb some Dijon and maple flavours, or munching on it raw in this egg-free coleslaw recipe, kids have ample opportunities to focus on the many ways it can be prepared and their reaction to the variations, rather than deciding the foods merit based on one flavour profile.
Exploring colourful salads in Urban Farming & Cooking Class
Exploring watermelon radish, colourful carrots and red kale,How many of your favourite colours can...
The Power of Ketchup
There’s no shortage of ketchup varieties available, but no matter what brand name or homemade option you’re reaching for, all bottles provide a perfect introduction to the five core tastes; sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami.
Thank You to Our Supporters!
Arthur W
The Taylor Family
High School Volunteers
Sawmill Sid
Farmer Britt
