Life Lab has trained tens of thousands of educators nationwide. The following workshop offerings can be specially crafted to fit the interests of your audience. Our hands-on workshops accommodate up to 25 participants at a time.

One-day workshops cost $1,500 plus travel expenses for 1-2 trainers. Individualized quotes for multi-day workshops are also available. Curriculum is sold separately.

If you are interested in learning more about having a Life Lab workshop in your area, please don't hesitate to contact us at (831) 459-3833 or education@lifelab.org

We also offer workshops at our Garden Classroom training site located on the UC Santa Cruz Farm. View upcoming workshops scheduled at the Garden Classroom.

Comment from a 1/30/2012 offsite workshop participant:

Hi Whitney, Just want to tell you again how much we loved our training day with you. I have heard nothing but positive feedback. Our principal claimed it to be a "Smashing success!" One of our teachers took pictures of all the activities and put together a book with pictures and descriptions. Another teacher got egg cartons all labeled and put in our shed. She also got together a bunch of little collection baskets and seed "boats." Amanda went out and got paint chips and so we're all set to get started out there with our new activities. Mrs. Caldwell was thrilled to have her bed prepared and planted.

Whitney, it was a pleasure to work with you from beginning to end. You make it easy to plan a big event like this because you are so organized, professional and knowledgeable. I really appreciate how you tailored the agenda to meet our needs and how you showed how adaptable the activities were to different grade levels and kids with different needs. You really packed a massive amount of information and inspiration into our day. Thank you for our great experience. JoAnn

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Workshops We Offer

The Growing Classroom: An Introduction to Garden-Based Learning

Using The Growing Classroom activity guide for grades 2-6, participants will experience hands-on activities, learn basic science concepts and gardening techniques, and develop management strategies for a school gardening program. Find out how to teach the standards while you guide students through the natural cycles of the garden.  Click here for more details, agenda, and photos of this workshop.

Plant It, Grow It, Eat It: Garden-Enhanced Nutrition Education

Make the connection from seed to table in this fun and delicious one-day workshop. Explore ways to teach nutrition through gardening, harvesting and meal preparation. You’ll learn effective ways to encourage kids grades 2-8 to eat more fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy lifestyle. You’ll receive an activity booklet with gardening and nutrition lessons, recipes, and garden kitchen design resources. Click here for more details, agenda, and photos of this workshop.

Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden

Because teamwork is so fundamental to creating and sustaining a garden, we designed this one-day workshop for school garden teams.  Participants will learn basic  skills they will need to design, develop, enhance, and maintain a school garden.  Topics include garden design, soil preparation, planting, watering, and pest management as well as building a support network, linking to academic content standards, and program planning. Teams must include at least one teacher and can also include parents, volunteers, school administrators, or other personnel. Each participant will receive a resource packet and Creating Gardens for Learning, a guide published by the California School Garden Network.  Schools may opt to add a second workshop day to apply these skills directly at their site. Click here for more details, agenda, and photos of this workshop.

Sowing the Seeds of Wonder: Discovering the Garden in Early Childhood Education

Spend a day looking at the garden through the eyes of a preschool student. In this workshop, participants will sample many activities designed to encourage young children to learn about their world using all their senses, and learn how to implement garden activities in a preschool setting. We’ll also discuss basic gardening skills, appropriate garden design, safe plants for preschool gardens, and garden art projects and songs. Participants will receive Sowing the Seeds of Wonder, Life Lab's 120-page activity guide with activities and songs for teaching preschool-aged children in a garden setting throughout the year. Click here for more details, agenda, and photos of this workshop.

Science Inquiry in the Garden

A school garden provides a rich, living, outdoor context in which students can explore and apply fundamental science concepts. In this one-day workshop, you will learn to inspire curiosity and enthusiasm in your students as you lead engaging and effective inquiry projects designed for 4th-8th grade students in the garden. Participants will receive Life Lab’s 480 page book, The Growing Classroom, as well as many other ideas and resources. Click here for more details on this workshop.

Life Lab Science

In this one- or two-day workshop, participants use Life Lab Science to learn to incorporate an outdoor garden classroom into earth, life and physical science for grades K-5. Participants will explore grade-specific activities and major themes to teach science concepts, using Life Lab’s unique unit format, which includes pre and post assessments, literature links, hands-on experiments and projects, special readings, and teacher tips. The workshop will also give participants the gardening experience they need to feel confident conducting garden-based lessons.