In a recent survey, 90% of children said that they would like a garden at school. The whole process of planting and raising plants includes maths, science and a host of other subjects, as well as giving your child skills for life. Enjoying and even eating the end results will give anyone a real sense of pride - plus the fresher the produce, the more vitamins and flavour it has!
This Summer Sudocrem are donating 20 Get Out and Grow Kits worth £160 to UK schools and I'm delighted to say I will be giving one of them away on this blog. The kits contain everything the school needs to make a start with their own garden, including children’s wheelbarrows, gardening gloves, mini-trowels, seeds and lessons on how to make the most of a school garden.
Sudocrem was first developed in 1931 by Dublin-based pharmacist Thomas Smith and the name changed to Sudocrem in 1950 because of the Dublin pronunciation of "soothing cream". Known best maybe for treating bums and burns, it's really useful for gardeners because it soothes sun and wind-burned skin, and moisturises dry hands. You can find an idea of just how many conditions it can help on the Sudocrem website.
The Get Out and Grow project was developed by Sudocrem following research* which suggested that many children don't get the chance to garden, haven't ever grown edible plants and lack basic understanding about where their food comes from. They found that even though 87% of British households have a garden, most children aged 4-8 can't name 5 vegetables or fruits grown in them, and 95% couldn't name 3 UK garden herbs.
Children had a basic misunderstanding of how growing plants works, with 79% believing worms are bad for plants and less than 20% able to name a trowel or a rake. It's actually a surprise that 20% of children said they had eaten a vegetable they’ve grown themselves.
Gardening doesn't only teach our children about nature, it's therapeutic and rewarding, and has been proven to have a positive effect on pupil behaviour. Not everyone excels at academic subjects, so gardening also gives another opportunity for children to find something they enjoy and are good at.
Four years ago Benjamin Adlard Primary School in Lincolnshire was rated as one of Britain’s worst schools by Ofsted, but it has now won the national Pearson award for School of the Year: Making a Difference and their new school garden is being credited with making the difference.
The headmaster Sam Coy said:
“The children absolutely love den-building, just generally getting dirty and nature hunts. One child recently told me that he loves going to the forest school on a Tuesday afternoon so much as it helps him to behave all week as he never wants to not be able to go.”
The Get Out and Grow school gardening kit giveaway can be the start of something brilliant for your chosen school too. Anyone an enter, nominate the school of your choice in the form below. You can find out more about the Get Out And Grow campaign here.
The giveaway ended at midnight Sunday 30th June. To see my current UK giveaways, go to my Giveaways Page...
*Research was conducted amongst 300 children, nationwide, aged between 4 and 8 years old – contacted via an online panel and accessed via their parent/guardian. Fieldwork was carried out between the 28th February and 2nd March 2019. Photos supplied by Sudocrem with the permission of the pupils and their parents.
We were paid for the time taken to administrate this giveaway. I use Sudocrem and have done for as long as I can remember.
Fab prize! My school would love it, such a great idea.
ReplyDeleteHome grown CHERRY tomatoes - can't beat the taste
ReplyDeleteMy favourite vegetable are peas and I have grown and picked them myself.
ReplyDeletesweetcorn has to be the best, cooked straight from picking it is so much sweeter and tastier than any shop bought corn ive had.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great prize. I would love to win it for my daughters school.
ReplyDeleteStrawberries are my fave I love them and they remind me of my grandad, I used to grow them with him when I was little
ReplyDeleteBananas & sweetcorn (not together), never grown or picked either.
ReplyDeleteI love growing peas, they never seem to reach the table though as we eat them out of the pod directly off the plant
ReplyDeleteStrawberries, and yes I grow them every year on my allotment
ReplyDeleteyes i grow potatoes different varieties;/.
ReplyDeleteI love carrots, we grow them ourselves every year, a great thing for my children to help with
ReplyDeleteI have grown carrots and radishes, and spring onions
ReplyDeleteFab prize!! My sons school would love it!
ReplyDelete- Emma Woodhouse
My favourite home grown veg are tomatoes as they always taste better
ReplyDeleteStrawberries are my fav and we pick them ourselves sometimes
ReplyDeletePotatoes are always so much better straight from the ground. The first vegetable my dad let me harvest with him. It was so much fun - just like a treasure hunt.
ReplyDeleteMy daughters school would love this to help with their playground revamp.
ReplyDeleteI love strawberries but have never grown them myself
ReplyDeleteHome grown strawberries are the best
ReplyDeleteFavourites are cauli and sprouts, I don't have a garden to grow anything
ReplyDeleteWe grow kohl rabi, which is hard to find in the shops and most people have not heard off, my husband grows show winning beetroot
ReplyDeletetomatoes and have never grown anything myself lol x
ReplyDeleteMy kids school are just starting a garden project this would be a great help
ReplyDeleteMy favourite thing to grow are cucumbers. They taste so different when they are home grown.
ReplyDeleteLettuce! They are beautiful picked right from the garden, Green and fresh not to mention super tasty!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite fruit is raspberries, my granny and granda used to sell them and I have fond memories of picking them as a child
ReplyDeleteI love raspberries and we have loads of them growing in the garden. They're absolutely delicious straight off the bush!
ReplyDeleteWe grow our own strawberries and the kids love to pick and eat them x
ReplyDeleteI love how much better homegrown cucumbers taste than the shop bought version!
ReplyDeleteI love strawberries. We grow them in the garden but we never have enough!
ReplyDeleteWe have gooseberries and black currants growing in our we garden at the moment
ReplyDeleteRaspberries 🍇 grown & picked myself!
ReplyDeleteI love courgettes and grown hundreds of them every year.
ReplyDeleteI love growing vegetables for my guinea pigs. They especially love carrot tops.
ReplyDeletewe love strawberries
ReplyDeleteAs a retired school business manager, who did her MBA on eco gardening and the affects on education, I'd love to win a kit and get gardening started in my granddaughters school.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea
ReplyDeleteWe grow strawberries and love them. The fridge is currently full of them!
Strawberries, I've never grown them but I have been strawberry picking.
ReplyDeleteConference pears picked from my Dad's tree, the grandchildren look forward to helping to pick and eat straight from the tree
ReplyDeletei love tomatoes---but ive never tried growing them
ReplyDeleteSugar snap peas and we grow our own!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting a fair harvest from my strawberry patch.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite fruit is strawberry but I haven't picked my own since I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteHome grown tomatoes taste amazing picked straight from the vine
ReplyDeleteWe are growing our own strawberries in our hanging basket and courgettes in pots in the garden :)
ReplyDeleteSugar snap peas for me. First time growing them this year and they are yummy
ReplyDeletecourgettes
ReplyDelete