10°
SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. For the past week, 14 children had the opportunity to participate in the first-ever Plant-Cook-Craft-Play day camp at W.L. Morse School in Sleepy Hollow. The children learned basic cooking techniques with food that was planted in the school's garden.
Elizabeth Kaplan, the organizer of the summer camp, said the goal was to make children more aware of healthy eating habits.
"We want the children to learn more about where the food they eat comes from," Kaplan said. "I think it's good because nutrition for children in school is so important today,"
The summer camp ran every morning from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Each morning, the children made their own lunch and created crafts, all with items grown in the school garden. Some of the food the children, aged five through eight, made included zucchini bread and salsa.
"We try to encourage each child to at least try every food item since it might be something they're not used to, and the majority of them did," Kaplan said.
On Friday, the parents were invited to join the camp for a picnic style lunch.
The food grown in the garden was planted in June and July and the children mostly harvested the crops. The camp only lasted five days, but Kaplan aims to make the program longer next year. She said she hopes to work in conjunction with the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns in order to make the summer camp four to six weeks long so the children can learn the full process of planting and taking care of plants and crops throughout the summer.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Mount Pleasant and receive free news updates.
