Overview
With Grow2Give, our ‘Littlest Huskies’ at the Child Development Lab learn about the plant life cycle and complete a fun art project by decorating pots and planting mint plants. The plants are then donated to undergraduate students, as studies have shown that taking care of a plant has many of the same benefits to mood, sense of wellbeing, and connectedness that come from taking care of a pet. The fact that they were grown and decorated by preschoolers for this intended purpose can only enhance this beneficial impact.
Grow2Give is a project born out of both necessity and empathy
Our History
At the height of the pandemic 2020, Grow2Give was conceived to benefit two distinct groups in need: undergraduate students isolated by COVID restrictions, and preschool children, as preschools were opening back up and curriculums were being rewritten.
With Grow2Give, our ‘Littlest Huskies’ at the Child Development Lab learn about the plant life cycle and complete a fun art project by decorating pots and planting mint plants. The preschoolers also get to experience selflessness and empathy, as it is reinforced throughout the project that they are decorating/growing them for them to be given away to older students that will benefit emotionally from their efforts.
The plants are then donated to undergraduate students, as studies have shown that taking care of a plant has many of the same benefits to mood, sense of wellbeing, and connectedness that come from taking care of a pet. The fact that they were grown and decorated by preschoolers for this intended purpose can only enhance this beneficial impact.
In 2022, the project is evolving to include a research study on the measurable benefit to student recipients, and the incorporation of Farmbot, another OPIM initiative, to maximize our yield of mint plants so we can impact as many lives as possible.
If you are looking to receive a plant, or to volunteer your time helping to push this project forward, please click "Get Involved" and a Grow2Give representative will be in contact with you.
Child Development Labs
At the Child Development Labs (CDL), the preschool students are an integral part of the Grow 2 Give initiative. Through Grow 2 Give and the curriculum designed around it by the amazing CDL Caregivers, preschool students get to learn about the plant life cycle, how to care for a living thing, and to see the fruits of their efforts as they watch the plants grow. They also get to do fun art projects decorating the pots for the plants using a variety of artistic mediums (paint, stickers, tissue paper, etc). The biggest lesson they learn from the project, however, is about empathy and the power of giving, because while they are decorating the pots and caring for the plants it is being reinforced to them that they are doing this to help others to feel better who are sad and struggling with loneliness.
Anyone with small children knows it can be difficult to teach a child the value in sharing or giving something away, so making that connection with the children and getting them to the point where they are excited for others to benefit from their hard work is a major milestone in their emotional development
