Living Curriculum

Welcome to the Garden of Eatin'®

A comprehensive, seasonally inspired, 0-5 early childhood education program for developing
healthy habits and discovering an early connection with nature.

Contact Us Start A Program

It has been well established that the first five years of a child’s life are crucial in setting the foundation for health and well being across the entire lifespan. Yet studies show that most children do not eat the daily recommended amount of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Garden of Eatin’® Living Curriculum instills healthy habits and weaves a culture of wellness into preschool learning programs by teaching children and their families to make healthy food choices through a unique, hands-on garden-based curriculum. Children learn to plant, nurture, harvest, prepare, and eat fresh fruits and vegetables that they have grown, while also using the garden as an active landscape to explore, discover, and play.

Aimed at setting the course for a lifetime of healthy choices, this unique learning program creates an awareness among children that learning about what you eat is as important as knowing one’s letters and numbers. Children as young as six weeks old can begin to develop critical learning skills and healthy, lifelong nutritional habits.

When young children are meaningfully
involved in the process of planting
and harvesting seasonal fruits and
vegetables, their appetite for real food
develops; and in turn, instills healthy
habits and behaviors for a lifetime
of good health.

Age Appropriate Curriculum Levels:

Available in English and Spanish!

Curriculum Components

An infographic titled "Living Curriculum Teaching Guide" with a numbered "1" at the top. The guide includes topics such as program implementation, pedagogical approaches, project-based instructions, gardening guidelines, building planter gardens, and suggested resources.

A graphic with a green circle at the top displaying the number "2." Below it is a text box titled "Curriculum Tote Box with 52 Weekly Lessons" listing components like age-appropriate activities, lesson material lists, structured physical activities, and more.

A graphic named "4" at the top shows training options titled "Customized Training by GOE Experts." The options are a one-hour introduction (in-person or Zoom), two-hour comprehensive Zoom curriculum orientation and teacher training, and in-person training with classroom coaching.

GOE Lesson Plan

The Garden of Eatin’® Living Curriculum follows evidence-based ECE standards and best practices. The curriculum aligns with California state standards and identifies DRDP measures within each lesson.

Instructional strategies are presented in four seasonal educational modules covering 12 months of related garden, nutrition, and nature-based lessons. Each module contains healthy recipes that can be easily prepared at home or school. Seasonal weekly lessons teach children the essential learning concepts designed to deepen their understanding and connections to healthy living.

An educational poster for a preschool program themed "Winter February - My Little Dish: Focusing on Proteins." It includes sections on meal planning, learning objectives, activities, DRDP measures, core activity details, and a photo sequence of cooking tasks.

How to Start A Program

First, let’s start a conversation and learn more about your needs, answer your questions and work together to bring Garden of Eatin'® Living Curriculum to you.

Enter your info to get started:

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- Family childcare homes
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- Infant/Toddler
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- TK/Kindergarten
- Afterschool Care
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Garden of Eatin” Living Curriculum staff have gone above and beyond teaching us the importance of healthy eating. We have worked enthusiastically as a team while having fun planting, harvesting, and taking our food from the garden…to the table! We have learned to use our food in different recipes.

Rosa M.

Internvention Specialist

“The Garden of Eatin’ Living Curriculum has made a positive impact in so many ways with the children. They have seen how watering plants make things grow and the outcome it has. The children can pick fruit and vegetables right out of the yard and eat them or pick them and cut them up and eat them as a salad. They learned to appreciate the garden better.”

Lilly

Preschool Teacher, NBCC

“The Garden of Eatin’ Living Curriculum has been instrumental in getting us to the place where we are now, at full implementation across each site and classroom. Children are out in the garden classroom and getting their hands dirty with intentional learning activities. The children now see the vegetables we are growing appearing on the lunch menu and eat chard, spinach, kale with relish! The teachers love this curriculum and the link to DRDP measures is the icing on the low sugar, whole grain cake!”

Monique L.

VP of Children and Family, Community Action Marin

“Nature was missing in our classrooms and programs. The Garden of Eatin’ Living Curriculum and their trainers helped guide our teachers with easy and specific ways to bring natural elements both indoors and outdoors. Children have really enjoyed working with soil, seeds, and age appropriate child-size tools.”

Irene T.

Health and Nutrition Manager, Easterseals Ventura

Here’s what the children are saying: