Let’s Grow Outside!

When Diana Mercado applied to the University of Delaware's Let's Grow Outside! initiative, she saw a great opportunity for the children she serves at Pirulo's Child Care and Learning Center in Newark, Delaware. The garden she planned to create would become a place for them to explore, learn about nature and build community.

Designed for educators in early childhood education programs, the Let's Grow Outside! professional development initiative is offered by the College of Education and Human Development's (CEHD) Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood (DIEEC) in collaboration with UD's Cooperative Extension. The program helps participants gain the knowledge and skills for developing and sustaining a garden, use a supplemental gardening curriculum and plan for age-appropriate garden activities with children.

"The children are watering the garden, seeing the harvest grow and touching everything," said Mercado, who transformed a patch of grass near the bottom of a hill into a thriving outdoor classroom. "When I'm in the garden, the children on the playground will call to me, 'Miss Diana! Come get me, Miss Diana. Is it my turn now? I wanna go to the garden!'"