African gardens
Grow vegetables in the UK, African style, and introduce your children to the world of growing plants through the lives of children in African countries. These practical ideas bring Africa to life, count towards Eco-Schools status, and our fantastic gardening kits will help get you started.
-
Bag Garden Starter Kits
Small gardens, ideal for small hands
Bag Gardens are a type of African garden that Send a Cow teaches families how to make in Africa. They are also a great way to get your pupils involved in a growing project, learning about healthy eating and life in an African country - with plenty of related resources and images to help you. These mini-gardens make the most of soil, compost and waste water, are easy to weed and can be grown in schools. Use the link below to find out more - and order a Bag Garden Starter Kit for £12, or call us on 01225 874222.
www.sendacow.org.uk/africangardens
-
How to make a Keyhole Garden - Starter Kits
Advice for two designs of the African garden
Keyhole Gardens are a great addition to any school grounds and a really useful technique used across Send a Cow projects. And you can buy a Starter Kit to get you going for £10, by calling us on 01225 874222. The kits contain seven seed types commonly grown in Uganda, growing and building advice, info on how the crops are used in Uganda and coloured seed markers. The two files below also help to show the Ugandan style version and the rocky Lesothan version. Also, see how we made a Ugandan style garden in the UK in the Powerpoint and then make your own using our kit and enter the competition!
-
Olinga’s climate change game
Learn how a Ugandan boy is preparing for climate change
Using this fun game, case study and Powerpoint, you can help pupils to understand how climate change is already affecting families in African countries. Olinga from Uganda is an encouraging example of how using simple methods (some can be tried out in your school) and hard work can help people be more food secure for the future. At the same time, this resource will help pupils to think about their own use of energy and resources in the UK.
-
Gardening advice from a watering can!
Little gems of organic advice from Mr Tomato Head
Need some pointers for your African Garden? Or just want to get your pupils thinking about how they can have fun in your school garden by trying out some ideas? Then visit Mr Tomato Head’s ‘Can of Wisdom’ on our fantastic kids’ website, Cowforce.com, for a delightful, interactive way to gain excellent advice!
-
Cabbages and Cowpats DVD (+Welsh)
A fun DVD about Africa and Send a Cow
Our ‘Cabbages and Cowpats’ DVD has been produced for primary schools and group use. It features short films about children’s lives in Lesotho, African gardens and Send a Cow’s work in Africa. The DVD is strong on promoting sustainability and healthy eating, it’s accompanied by toe-tapping music, engaging animations and an easy-to-follow storyline - much of it has a Welsh language option. Your kids will watch it until the cows come home! Watch some clips using the links. To buy a copy for just £5.99 (including p&p) call us on 01225 874 222.
www.cowforce.com/cabbages-and-cowpats
www.youtube.com/cowforce -
Sponsor a Sunflower Kits
Sponsor a sunflower for Send a Cow - the tallest wins!
Add a splash of colour to your home or school garden by ordering our Sponsor a Sunflower Kit. Growing sunflowers is a great activity for children to do over the Summer Holidays as they grow so quickly (taking between 75 and 90 days), with the Russian Mammoth sunflowers growing up to 12ft tall! As the sunflowers climb higher, your children will be helping African families and learning about why they grow their sunflowers too. You can use the sponsor form provided if you want to use your own sunflower seeds and the images from our sunflower gallery to make a classroom display. Find out more by visiting our sunflower kit page, and order a kit for just £5 by calling us on (01225) 874 222.
-
African recipes
Simple but tasty African dishes to try out!
These recipes will spice up your learning about African countries and have been chosen as most are fairly easy to make. Types of food eaten across Africa varies greatly and is partly dependant on access to different ingredients. Often poor families will have to survive on a diet of beans and rice, but when money starts coming into a household and more food is grown, children’s diets become more varied, healthy. . . and tasty! Use the food images gallery to set the scene before you get cooking.
-
Make an Energy-saving Stove
Simple mud stove design that saves wood
These stoves are used in Send a Cow training in African countries as they use less wood and take smoke away from the cook. They are also a great idea for a design project for older pupils. You can make them over the period of a few days, depending on the weather, and with a bit of supervision they can be cooking their own food on it within a week! You could also set pupils the task of designing their own versions of the stove using various different materials.
-
Make your garden a work of outdoor art
Some art ideas for your Bag or Keyhole Gardens
Brighten up your garden even more by using these fun ideas or turn your own recycled materials into something amazing. Your pupils can learn more about African art and recycling through activities like these. Signs are included to colour in.
-
African organic gardening tips
Quick tips and ingredients for organic crops
If you don’t want to use pesticides and other nasties, but you do want to make the most of nature. . .try these tips! Simple pieces of advice from companion planting to making plant tea, these pointers should help your pupils get even more excited about the world of growing plants. They are especially good for use in your Bag or Keyhole garden as they mirror the techniques used by African families.
