The teacher’s role for engagement in foraging and gardening activities in kindergarten

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of the participating kindergarten teachers.

Gender	Years of teacher experience	Years of experience with gardening in kindergarten
Female	9	5 and adult life
Male*	10	3 and childhood
Female	17	5 and childhood
Female	27	5 and whole life
Male	31	5
Female	37	5 and childhood
Female	39	5 and childhood

* Main teacher.

Table 2. Overview of video sequences for the different activities or tasks (total 8 h and 20 min).

Activity – task	Length of video	Data collector
Harvesting and rinsing flowers to make cordials outdoors	92′ 42′’	Field researcher
Harvesting and rinsing flowers to make cordials outdoors	93′ 25′’	Main teacher
Separating flowers, adding sugar, and tasting indoors	38′ 35′’	Main teacher
Separating flowers, adding sugar, and tasting indoors	39′ 9′’	Assistant teacher
Picking crowberries outdoors in the woods	38′ 40′’	Main teacher
Rinsing crowberries and crushing the berries indoors	29′ 39′’	Main teacher
Separating crowberries and adding sugar indoors	72′ 1′’	Main teacher
Tasting crowberry drink and preparing for storage indoors	53′ 3′’	Main teacher
Harvesting potatoes outdoors	43′ 13′’	Field researcher

Figure 1. Pictures of the area where Rosebay Willowherb (A) and Crowberry (B) were harvested.

Table 3. Overview of different steps in the three activities.

Activity	Preparation	Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4
1. Roseberry willowherb flowers (Chamaenerion augustifolium)	Preparing the children by asking about what they know about juices and cordials. e.g. how they are made and what kind of drinks they like. – indoors	Mapping the nearby area with the children for where to find the flowers and drawing a ‘treasure-map’. Determining different plant species by using an app^1 on site. – outdoors	Following the map to harvest flowers and separating them from leaves and insects. Adding hot water and citric acid onto the flowers to extract the flavours. – outdoors	Sifting the flowers from the extract and adding sugar. Tasting the drink. – indoors	Serving the colourful floral cordial with foods. Store the cordial in flasks in the freezer for later use. – indoors
2. Crowberries (Empetum nigrum)	Observing where to find crowberries in the woods. Buying children size berry picker tools and containers for picking. – outdoors	Taking a trip to the woods with the children and picking berries with berry picker tool in containers. – outdoors	Separating berries from leaves, insects and other detritus. – indoors	Crushing berries with preboiled water in a blender to extract aromas. – indoors	Sifting the berry debris from the exctract and adding sugar and citric acid for taste^2. – indoors
3. Potatoes	Preparing the soil by weeding, adding chicken manure, and using different tools with the children. – outdoors	Planting parent potatoes with tools and explaining the role of earthworms in the soil. – outdoors	Attending the growth by weeding and watering the plants. – outdoors	Harvesting potatoes by using different tools with the children. – outdoors	Counting the harvest and making potato chips in the kitchen. – indoors

¹ Artsorakel (artsdatabanken.no)

² Step 5: Freezing the finished cordial into ice pops sticks. Some cordial was also served as a drink at special occations or stored in the freezer.

Table 4. How ‘facilitating adventurous experiences’ is articulated with the children.

Rosebay willowherb	Crowberries	Potatoes
Searching for where the flower species is located by mapping the nearby area with an app with the children. – field notes	Reading, printing out, and exploring the process on how to make crowberry cordial on a blog. – field notes	Building anticipation and eagerness in the children in advance by talking about the task ahead. – interviews
Creating a ‘treasure map’ for where the flower is located with the children. – videos	Letting the children explore nature on their own. Treasure hunting for berries and mushrooms. – videos	Encouraging the children to explore what is hidden in the soil (different kind of potatoes and earthworms). – videos
Asking curious questions on what the children think or expect in the process.  – videos	Following up the children’s interest for what they find in nature (e.g. mushrooms and litter). – videos	Expressing "I wonder how many can be found?" The children are then eager to find more. – videos
Having personal and contagious engagement and curiosity for the different tasks. – interviews	Trying out new tools for harvest, separation and crushing berries (e.g. berry picker tool). – videos	Introducing new tools (pichfork) to be able to dig deeper gives increased interest. – videos
Following up the children’s interest for what they see in nature (e.g. insects). – videos	Following up the children’s suggestions for what to make (ice pop juice on a stick). – interviews	Supporting the excitement around the different forms and sizes of the potatoes. – interviews
Inviting the children to explore with their senses (touch, smell, taste, colour). – videos	Exploring the novility of the taste and shifting colour (e.g. from adding sugar and citiric acid). – videos	Responding to children’s sayings: "look, I found another one" "look, I found an earthworm" – videos

Table 5. How ‘child-centered communication’ is expressed in the video sequences.

Recalling	Motivating	Asking questions	Instructing	Explaining
Reminding the children about the goal of making a cordial or juice (food product)	Verbally acknowledging the children’s work: "when you spread the flowers, then I could find more green leaves"	Asking open-ended questions to invite the children to elaborate on what they see and think during the activities	Giving instruction on what part of the flower should be picked and not to pick leaves and knots	Describing why we need to separate flowers and berries from leaves, insects and other detritus to make a good drink
Recalling previous events: "Do you remember previously […] planted potatoes?"	Encouraging and inviting the children to use their senses (taste, smell, tactile/softness, visual/colour)	Asking leading questions such as: "do you know what this is?" "do you want to..?"	Giving instruction on what kind of potatoes should be harvested (not parental potatoes)	Explaining why the potato plant has become yellow and withered and is ready for harvesting
Repeating difficult words (geitrams^3, krøkebær^4, greip^5)	Encouraging the children to participate and helping with the task at hand	Making inquiries about the role of specific things in nature (insects, earthworms etc.)	Showing how to use tools for harvest (berry picker, pichfork, etc.) and processing (blender)	Demonstrating why the sugar is more easlily dissolved in the floral drink by adding heat

³ English: Rosebay willowherb

⁴ English: Crowberries

⁵ English: Pichfork