Through the Fulton Garden Club's Blooming Bushes program, little sprouts at Bush Elementary get to learn about the outdoors.
"We work with (before- and after-school program) BAC-PAC once a month," Fulton Garden Club member Linda Houston said.
She went to the Rotary Club on Wednesday to tell about the program, which keeps kids outside and learning almost all year. This year, 17 kids participated, Houston said. The garden club has a similar program at Kingdom Christian Academy.
In the spring, Houston said, the children plant bulbs. When it's too cold to go out, they make bird feeders and create animals out of recyclables. They also read books such as "The Frightened Frog." Perhaps most exciting for the kids is the annual visit from the Department of Natural Resources.
"They bring animals for them to look at and learn about," Houston said.
This year, the students got to meet a number of native mammals.
"When it gets warm enough again, we go on nature walks," she said.
They also participate in two poster contests through National Garden Clubs.
Two of this year's winners at the school, both of whom also won at the district level, came to show off their posters.
First-grader Taliyah Travis drew a picture of Smokey Bear with a pair of shovels and the slogan, "Only you can prevent wild fires."
"That's his younger self in the tree behind him," Houston explained on the stage-shy Taliyah's behalf.
Taliyah won the national contest last year, Houston added.
Tailyah's sister Kamari won at the second-grade level with her portrait of Woodsy Owl, who teaches kids not to pollute.
"The environment is really important to us," Houston said.
A third child, Sabrina Whitesides, also placed in the contest but was unable to attend.
The Travis girls' mother, Melissa Travis, thinks her children have benefited from the Blooming Bushes program.
"I do think they've learned a lot from it," Travis said.
She said they're constantly bringing home new plants to add to their garden plot.
"One time they planted plants inside odd shoes - mismatched shoes they got from Clothes Cupboard," Travis added.
Kamari said her favorite part was learning about Arbor Day. She and her sisters got to bring home several baby trees, including a couple of redbuds and a buckeye tree.
"It's really important our kids have outdoor education because it's not really part of our schools," Houston said. "Kids learn so much about technology but not nature."
She encouraged others to start their own junior garden clubs with their grandchildren, neighborhood kids or children at church.
"Anybody could do it in any of the elementary schools," Houston said.
