Growing School Food Gardens

Hey! I'm a primary school teacher in the UK and we have a small patch of garden at the school. We have a gardening club, but want to get more kids involved and motivated to help out! Does anyone have any suggestions for running a bit of a competition to get more interest and involvement? Thank you!

We name each seedling with a child's name when they put down that seedling.  Children are so proud to watch their own seedling grow and keep on coming back to check on their own seedling. For example, tomato Michael is the first one who has a red tomato and the boy Michael ate it in front of other kids. He calls his first tomato "baby Michael"  

Hi, Milly.

I love that you're looking for ways to bring even more children into the garden. A little friendly competition can be a great motivator, especially in a primary setting. Here are a few ideas that work well with mixed ages and small garden spaces:

"Grow the Tallest / Smallest / Funniest" Challenge  

Give each child (or each class) a pot and let them choose a seed. They can compete for tallest plant, tiniest plant, or even "funniest-looking leaf." It keeps things light and creative.

Class vs. Class Mini‑Plots  

If you have space, assign each class a tiny patch or container. They choose what to grow, decorate their area, and earn points for teamwork, care, creativity, and final results.

Wildlife Spotting Competition  

Create a simple chart for spotting pollinators, worms, birds, or beneficial insects. Kids earn points for observations, drawings, or photos. Great for those who love nature but aren't as excited about planting.

Garden Art Contest  

Let students design plant labels, painted stones, or mini scarecrows. Display them in the garden and let the school vote. This brings in children who enjoy art more than gardening.

"Adopt a Plant" Program  

Each child adopts one plant for the term. They name it, care for it, and track its growth. Awards can be fun and inclusive. Some examples are "Best Comeback," "Most Colorful," "Most Loved."

Garden Passport Challenge  

Create a simple "passport" with tasks: watering, weeding, planting seeds, spotting wildlife, harvesting, etc. Kids earn stamps for each activity and receive a certificate at the end.

Make It About Teamwork, Not Just Winning  

Primary students respond really well when competitions reward kindness, effort, and curiosity and not just the final plant.

Your garden club already sounds like a lovely space. A small competition could be just the spark that gets more children excited to join in. If you try one of these, I'd love to hear how it goes!

Enjoy!

Hi Milly, 

I also worked with a small garden at a school where we can't grow a huge harvest to share with every child, or offer every child personal growing space, so I've done some contests where we grow a few of something large all summer, like a watermelon, cabbage, or pumpkin, and we have classrooms guess the weight of the mature veg when it's ready for picking, and whichever class gets the closest wins it for snacking or carving, or wins a separate prize! It gets the whole school interested in the garden and has the kids coming to check on what's growing and motivated to try again with the next growing season. 

I've also had groups of kids vote on what to plant seasonally. It gets them excited about being involved in what goes in the ground and has them coming back to check on "their pick." It also helps them exercise the democratic process! 

Hi Millie - our school garden has 10 beds that specifically are for planting crops/flowers in various stages of rotation.  We offered our Garden Club students a Design Challenge (voluntary), with rubrics that were appropriate for age/grade with `extra challenges' which included themes, writing prompt, designing a structure, highlighting plant families, colors, shapes, etc.  They used donated seed catalogs to help create their bed design.  Each participant's design was reviewed by a panel (superintendent, principal -both gardeners), a Master Gardener, and a local business woman who has an urban gardening business.  Only positive feedback.  Then club members, based on grade (so six garden beds) voted for their fan favorite, and planted that together.  All participants received a basket of gardening goodies. This occurred in spring.  With fall they will be visiting the garden  comparing their plan to reality...what grew? what did not? why not?   All designs were displayed prominently at the school.  It was awesome to observe the ownership students felt and pride in the work they did!