Most kids love to get their hands dirty, and nature-based learning is using that inclination to connect them with the earth under their feet. In an era when iPads and game consoles abound, school gardens have taken root in several Little Rock curriculums, and educators are finding that giving children time with nature is a way to help them slow down and unplug. Here are a few of the places around town where students are reaping what they sow.

Ferncliff Camp

Just 10 miles west of Little Rock sit 1,200 acres of nature known as Ferncliff Camp. The camp offers a variety of activities to get kids outside, including hiking, swimming, crafting and – of course – gardening. Ferncliff focuses on “going green” and sustainability, so adding a garden was seen as a great way to engage kids. “We want them to care for the earth and establish a connection between our planet and the food they eat,” says David Gill, Ferncliff’s executive director.

The camp, near Pinnacle Mountain at 1720 Ferncliff Road, seeks to make working in its garden a positive learning experience. Ferncliff hosts 100 to 150 children with ages ranging from those entering first grade through those going into eighth grade during the course of the eight-week summer camps. The vegetables harvested from the garden appear in cucumber salads and on salad bars in the camp’s dining halls, giving youngsters a chance to see and taste the farm-to-table experience.

“Getting kids to connect with nature at a young age helps them become environmentalists,” says Gill. “Spending time in the garden is a way to counterbalance the high-tech world kids live in.”

Dunbar Garden

Wedged on a two-acre plot between Gibbs Elementary and Dunbar Middle School, Dunbar Garden at 1800 S. Chester St. is positioned perfectly to teach Little Rock’s youth about gardening. With the motto “Plant ideas, grow minds,” the garden welcomes around 700 students per month from surrounding schools, ranging from preschool to eighth-graders. Dunbar grows a great many fruits, vegetables and nuts. “We like to grow surprising foods so they’ll ask questions like ‘Why is there a yellow watermelon?’ ” says Damian Thompson, the garden’s program coordinator.

Lessons in the garden complement the science curriculum back in the classrooms. In the garden, kids see for themselves how science and the earth work hand in hand. A stir-fry demonstration might become a lesson on energy, or a gardenting session might offer insights into soil chemistry or plant anatomy. Children get to see the vast difference between picking food yourself and having hauled by many people and machines to the grocery store. “When the kids pick a tomato from the garden, I tell them you’re the first person to touch that, so it’s ready to eat,” Thompson says.

North Little Rock Academy

The Academy garden project began when a former teacher sought a project that would have an impact on the students and their community. So the school secured a grant from the city of North Little Rock and broke ground for a community garden on the school’s grounds at 5500 Lynch Drive.

Throughout the the school year, every student at the Academy will work in the garden, mastering a number of skills. Math students use calculations to determine area, depth, and spacing of plants, as well as in estimating growth time and production. Science classes assess the effects of the elements and study production, soil acidity and the effects of erosion. Social studies and English students research and write about the impact of agriculture on the economy.

The garden grows squash, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, and cucumbers, to name a few, and several trees bear fruit. “About 98 percent of Academy students receive free and reduced lunches,” said Principal Charles Jones, who noted that many families lack the resources to buy fresh produce and fruit. “Students can take home what they grow to help provide for their families,” he said, adding that the Academy’s philosophy is “teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” Jones said students involved in the program had started home gardens, worked in other community gardens and begun eating more vegetables.

Good Earth Learning Center

Good Earth Learning Center seems to have something for everyone. Beyond a year-round school serving children ages 18 months to 6 years, Good Earth offers after-school programs for kindergartners through sixth-graders, as well as spring break and summer day camps.

Good Earth, about 30 miles northeast of Little Rock in the Lonoke County community of Austin, is committed to teaching skills like gardening, recycling, composting and hatching chicks. Surrounded by 180 acres of nature, the center is set up for good, clean learning. Children learn traditional math and vocabulary skills in a small-classroom setting, but they also take care of animals and tend to a garden. After learning to plant and harvest, Good Earth students use the produce in delicious recipes like squash bread, according to Angie Horn, the learning center’s director. “We teach the skills I noticed kids weren’t getting when they’re lying on the couch playing on an iPad,” Horn says. “At Good Earth the kids learn how to unplug and move in real time. They learn that things take time, and things grow in real time. When they slow down, that’s when the creativity comes out.”

Arkansas Farm to School

The Arkansas Farm to School initiative centers on three practices: local food procurement, nutrition education, and school gardens. The program finds ways to connect Arkansas farmers to preschools and schools, so that students get fresh produce in school meals and nutrition education. School gardens are an integral part of Farm to School, and are supported by the Childhood Obesity Prevention Research Program at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute. School gardens around the state plant and harvest crops for use throughout the school year, and then use season-extension practices to carry produce through summer into fall.

The 2015 Department of Agriculture Farm to School census reported that 22 percent of school districts in Arkansas used farm-to-school practices, with produce reaching nearly 95,000 students. But the plan is to see that number increase. “We want children to learn that the healthy choice is an easy choice,” says Emily English, the Farm to School program’s administrator and director of Arkansas GardenCorps. “Plus, gardening is just fun. Hands-on learning opens them up to eating healthier more than putting it on their plate and telling them it’s good for them.”