Explore a garden-themed weekly planner inspired by Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery, filled with hands-on preschool activities for learning about plants, food, and nature.
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Harlem Grown Inspired Weekly Planner
Gardening is a wonderful way to help young children connect with nature, explore where their food comes from, and learn through hands-on play. Inspired by Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery, this Garden Weekly Planner is designed to bring those meaningful lessons to life for your preschooler in a fun and engaging way.
Throughout the week, you’ll find simple, playful activities that build early learning skills while encouraging curiosity about plants, gardens, and the world around them. From sensory play and creative art to early literacy, math, and even cooking, each activity invites your child to dig in, explore, and discover how small actions—like planting a seed—can grow into something truly special.
Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery
Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery is an inspiring true story about how one idea can make a big difference. In a New York City neighborhood, a vacant, trash-filled lot is transformed into a thriving garden when Mr. Tony invites local children to help clean it up and plant fruits and vegetables. Together, they learn about teamwork, healthy eating, and caring for their community. Over time, the garden grows into a space that provides fresh food for families and shows children the power they have to create positive change.
This story helps young children understand the importance of helping others, working together, and taking care of their environment. It also gently introduces where food comes from and encourages curiosity about fruits and vegetables—something especially helpful for picky eaters.
Plus, it pairs perfectly with hands-on activities like gardening, planting seeds, or visiting a local garden—making the story come to life in a fun and meaningful way.
Don’t have the book? You can listen to a Read Aloud of Harlem Grown on YouTube.
Gardening Songs for Preschoolers and Toddlers
Bring your garden theme to life with music and movement your preschooler will love! These garden songs are a fun way to introduce little learners to plants, bugs, and the magic of growing things. As children sing along, they build vocabulary, practice listening skills, and connect with nature in a playful, hands-on way.
Farmer Plants the Seeds Lyric Video | The Kiboomers
Rooftop Garden | Barefoot Books
And The Green Grass Grew | Super Simple Play with Caitie!
Garden Themed Schedule of Activities for Preschoolers
Each week we provide a simple plan of activities for you and your preschoolers to do together. Although we don’t have a strict schedule the one shown below works really well if you are planning a full week.
If not you can always carry out the activities on a single day or across a couple.
Harlem Grown Inspired Garden Weekly Planner for Preschoolers
Bring the powerful story of Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery to life with this hands-on Garden Weekly Planner designed just for preschoolers! This week is all about showing young children how small actions—like planting a seed or caring for a garden—can grow into something meaningful for themselves and their community.
Inspired by the real-life transformation of a neighborhood garden, this planner invites your child to explore where food comes from, how plants grow, and why gardens matter. Through playful, engaging activities like sensory bins, garden-themed literacy and math games, creative art projects, and even tasty garden snacks, your child will learn by doing—building early skills while connecting with nature.
Whether you’re planting real seeds, digging into imaginative play, or simply exploring the idea of growing together, this garden-themed week helps nurture curiosity, responsibility, and a love for the world around them.
Garden Themed Weekly Planner Inspired by Harlem Grown
Inspired by Harlem Grown, this Garden Weekly Planner uses hands-on activities to help preschoolers explore how plants grow, where food comes from, and how they can care for their community.
Explore vegetables with this great Vegetable Garden Sensory Bin. This is a great way to talk about where food comes from, how vegetables grow and more!
You can also explore the garden with this Mud Themed Playdough.
Play the Alphabet Garden Hunt Game with your child. Explore this reading activity that will help develop letter identification and letter sound recognition in your garden.
You could also play Spray the Garden Alphabet Game or make some fun Plant Labels for Kids.
Work on number recognition and number sense with this fun hands-on LEGO Garden Preschool Math Game with LEGO Flowers!
Plus you can print out these fun Counting Seeds Unit for more hands on seed fun.
Learn how to make Homemade Dirt Pudding, with layers of creamy chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos, & gummy worms. Kids & kids-at-heart love it!
You could also make a fun Flower Snack for garden week too!
Explore garden art by Painting with Flowers and using seeds and petals to create a multi-dimensional, multi-medium art project. You can also Paint with Herbs with kids too.
Here's a few tips for Starting a Garden with Preschoolers.
You may also enjoy these garden themed printables from the publisher, Simon and Schuster for Saturdays at Harlem Grown.
Gardening Books for Preschoolers
Introduce your little learners to the wonders of gardening and growing with these beautiful, engaging books! These garden-themed stories help preschoolers discover how plants grow, what happens beneath the soil, and how gardens come to life through care and patience. With colorful illustrations and simple, meaningful storytelling, these books nurture curiosity, encourage a love of nature, and make learning about plants fun and accessible for young children.
From planting seeds to watching flowers bloom, titles like Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn and Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert show the joy of growing a garden, while others explore the hidden world beneath the soil and the journey from seed to plant.
- Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn
- Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner
- Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson
- GROW: How We Get Food from Our Garden by Karl Beckstrand
- The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
- Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
- Busy Spring: Nature Wakes Up by Sean Taylor
- We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines
- A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Aston
You can explore more garden books for kids here!
We hope this Garden Weekly Planner brings plenty of joy, curiosity, and hands-on learning to your preschooler’s week! As you explore, play, and create together, remember that every small activity—whether planting a seed, building a garden craft, or sharing a story—helps children grow their understanding of the world around them.
Inspired by Harlem Grown, these simple experiences remind us that gardens are more than just plants—they’re spaces for learning, connection, and community.
Keep the conversation going as you notice nature in your everyday life, and watch how your child’s curiosity continues to bloom.
You may also enjoy these additional activities with your child…
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