Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) and the
4-H Children’s Gardens have partnered with the
Michigan Nutrition Network and
KidsCom.com’s Virtual Universe. Together, the partners will create a virtual garden experience that helps children understand the food growing process, with the hopes of impacting them enough to help them make healthier eating choices.
Using the virtual garden space on KidsCom.com, the group will help kids gain experience and knowledge with an avatar the kids will use to plant a garden and then harvest the produce. Gardening expertise will be provided by the curator of the 4-H Children's Gardens, and MSUE dietitians will provide nutrition education and assistance.
The virtual garden is part of a larger MSUE program designed to help schools incorporate nutrition and gardening information into their lesson plans, called the “MyGarden” curriculum.
“The virtual gardening experience at KidsCom.com will be a great tool to use hand-in-hand with MyGarden lessons,” says Becky Henne, associate program leader at MSUE who is coordinating the educators supplying the content for the virtual garden experience. “I can’t imagine a better way to make the ideas embodied in the lessons come to life for kids.”
Source: Michigan State University
Writer: Suban Nur Cooley
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