Increasingly exposed to unhealthy food choices and with limited opportunities to grow and eat good food, one in three children leaving primary school are overweight or obese.
Edible Playgrounds offer a lively, engaging, multi-sensory way to teach children about growing and eating healthy food. Aside from the physical health benefits that eating well brings, learning in an outdoor environment combats Nature Deficit Disorder and
has been shown to increase mental health by boosting mood, confidence and self-esteem. Other benefits include the development of essential life skills such as reliance, sustainability, behaviour change, waste reduction and community involvement.
We have created over 100 vibrant Edible Playgrounds to date across the UK, working with over 70,000 children, focussing particularly in areas where children and communities face multiple social and environmental deprivation.
Our comprehensive delivery programme includes school community consultation and engagement, landscape design, installation and planting, aftercare and maintenance. As part of this package we also offer teacher training in school, a bespoke plan for teachers
to manage the planting through outdoor lessons, and practical online teaching resources. This is vital for the projects to be embedded into the curriculum and school life and to make them sustainable for years to come.
Here in Bradford, Edible Playgrounds are being built in four primary schools across the city with 3 more in development for later this year. This makes Bradford the next largest Edible Playground City after London and Liverpool.
If you are interested in finding out more please email us: ep@treesforcities.org
There is lots of infomation on our website too, such as our video, case studies and free downloadable resources:
https://www.treesforcities.org/our-work/schools-programme/edible-playgrounds