Final report for YENC25-231
Project Information
The Little Sprouts Early Childhood Education Garden Program leads preschool-age learners in an integrated agricultural curriculum at Flance Early Learning Center and Guardian Angel Child Development Center. During lessons, children learn about the plant life cycle and plant care. They will harvest, prepare, and taste the produce they have grown. Through these lessons, UHSTL introduces children to a variety of fruits and vegetables, from seed to table, sparking their curiosity about growing food and encouraging them to try things they may not have tried before. UHSTL instills the value of environmental stewardship through sustainable practices and a hope-based approach.
UHSTL’s Little Sprouts program leads little learners in an integrated agricultural curriculum. The goal is to foster children's interest in fresh food and garden education at a young age. In the school gardens, UHSTL grows both healthy produce and future farmers and food activists.
UHSTL will increase 172 preschool students' knowledge of key crops and basic farming topics through hands-on gardening and cooking demonstrations that will occur weekly at each partner school. 2025 will be the first year of year round programming and parent engagement at both schools, including indoor activities to reinforce the outdoor garden lessons.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation summary:
Over the course of 2025-2026, UHSTL has facilitated 29 Little Sprouts lessons, 8 winter lessons, and 8 cooking demonstrations across two sites: Flance Early Learning Center and Guardian Angel Child Development Center. The lessons follow the entire plant life cycle from seed to harvest, with 9 focal crops selected each year (ie. carrot, celery, lettuce), in addition to the growth of perennial crops such as blackberries and strawberries. Students prepared the food they grew in cooking demonstrations, such as the DIY berry jam lesson, in which students helped make jam with the fresh berries they harvested.
UHSTL staff facilitated one edible art and seed ball creation workshop in partnership with Kids in the Arts District. Children made “seed balls” with local wildflowers and used various vegetables to create butterflies and snails. Many parents anecdotally reported their children tasting the vegetables more readily than they would at home. We hosted 2 workshops at Flance in 2025 during their family engagement events. At Guardian Angel, UHSTL hosted an “open house” for parents and community members to attend with games, activities, and distribution of fresh free produce. We conducted a paid teacher training session at each partner site as part of their professional development curriculum. UHSTL also distributed free produce at all family events and collected parent feedback via survey in Fall 2025.
The Sunset Hills branch of the Kiwanis Club invited UHSTL staff to speak about the Little Sprouts program at one of their club meetings. This local group of philanthropists meet monthly to help support local children's initiatives through funding and volunteer support.
- Host webinar or in-person workshop
- Article for educator publication
Learning Outcomes
Students who have attended at least 4 weeks of classes will take a bite of at least 50% of taste test recipes
Students who have attended at least 4 weeks of classes will correctly identify 50% of the focal crops shown in 3 visual crop recognition assessments.
The Little Sprouts Program aimed for the following outcomes: (1) students who have attended at least 4 weeks of classes will take a bite of at least 50% of the taste test recipes and (2) students who have attended at least 4 weeks of classes will be able to correctly identify 50% or more of the focus crops on visual flashcard assessment.
Students achieved the first outcome on the observational rubric by eating recipes in 2 or more of the 4 taste tests. Students who missed more than 2 taste tests, or attended fewer than 4 classes before the first taste assessment, were not included in the sample. In total, 81% of eligible students achieved the first outcome: 91% of eligible Flance students and 68% of eligible Guardian students.
The second outcome, correct identification of 50% or more of focus crops on a visual flashcard assessment, was achieved by 87% of all eligible students. 92% of eligible Flance students and 79% of Guardian students achieved the second outcome. If students missed both crop assessments or attended fewer than 4 classes before their first assessment they were not included.
UHSTL staff developed lesson plans in accordance with Missouri State Standards.
- Limitation: No outdoor kitchen requires recipe classes to be very resourceful but do continue to require an outlet to connect the convection burner or air fryer
- With this age group, students do require supervision for all activities and they are most effective when the teacher to student ratio is about 1:6.
- Teacher confidence in the garden has a huge impact on the lesson design, as we have to ensure that all activities are accessible to those with no gardening experience in order to have additional support from adult staff
Project Outcomes
UHSTL equipped teaching staff with a toolkit that empowers them to use the garden confidently outside of regularly scheduled program hours.
During the edible art workshop, children excitedly consumed almost all of the fresh produce that was brought for the project. Celery, cherry tomatoes, and herbs were transformed into butterflies, snails, and other garden animals. The participants parents reported being shocked by how readily their child consumed raw vegetables, some stating they refused the same vegetables at home when offered on a plate. UHSTL staff developed their entire curriculum around the fact that independent exploration encourages children to try new things. When parents get to be part of activities like this workshop, they get to see the impact of the Little Sprouts program in real time. It might even inspire them to present fresh vegetables to their children in new and exciting ways.
Coordination between staff at the school and farm staff is key to enhancing parent and teacher engagement. UHSTL had more success at events where their presence was marketed by the schools to their families rather than independently marketed to the general public.