Nursery school students plant daffodil bulbs

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Sounds of happy chatter and shrieks of laughter wafted from the yard behind the Riverdale Presbyterian Church Nursery School as more than 50 students planted 100 daffodil bulbs this month.

One student named Oliver peered at a worm and chortled, “I see a bug, a big one.”

“You like it Oliver?” asked a staff member. “Should we give the worm a name?”

“Pikachu,” responded Oliver.

“Yes, Pikachu,” said a classmate.

They were peals of laughter as “Pikachu” crawled around in the hand of one of the adults.

Although the day was about celebrating growth, the school also wanted students to take the time to learn and develop a broader appreciation of nature.

Sofia, who is 4-years-old, described the day. “I was putting a bulb in the ground and I digged it into a hole,” she said.

Sofia also said she found two worms while planting her two bulbs. “I put it in my hand and I put it back,” she added proudly.

“I liked putting the dirt in,” said 4-year-old Wesley when asked about his favorite part of planting daffodil bulbs.

The morning project was a hit with parents like Dominique Salazar, who volunteered to dig holes in the yard so students could place the bulbs and cover them with dirt.

“I just think it’s so much fun. It’s a fun way to introduce kids to the joy of what’s under the soil,” said Ms. Salazar, whose 2-and-a half-year-old son Miró is a student at the school. She said her son enjoys finding “wormies” in the yard.

“‘Wormies’ are exciting,” said Ms. Salazar, who added that she wanted him to learn the “joy of working the earth” and seeing the end results in the spring.

For 2-year-old Mia, the day was about learning to plant and having fun watching the worms. Mia planted seven bulbs and appeared to have the most fun watching a motionless worm in her mother’s hand. “The worm is sleeping,” she said. Mia and her mother said “goodnight” to the worm and placed it back in the dirt.

Nadine Bernstein, Mia’s mother, thought the event was a good opportunity to see how things are planted and how they grow. She added that although they have a container garden on their terrace at home, Mia does not have an opportunity to use some of the gardening tools or plant anything in the ground.

Ms. Bernstein said planting days such as this should take place at all schools. “I just think that schools especially in the city need more room to plant things because it also gives the kids a perspective on how long things are, how long things take…They need to see it because now everything is so fast and you don’t have a relationship to anything anymore.”

After planting the bulbs Andrea Montemarano, who teaches the older 3-year-olds at the nursery, said part of the exercise is for children to see where flowers come from and watch them grow. As the bulbs begin to sprout, they will go outside and look at the emerging daffodils under a magnifying glass so the students can see its progress, she said.

“It’s a science experience for everybody, but it does take time. The younger kids and the older kids will be reminded, ‘Yeah, I remember when I dug and planted.’ We will take photographs so they can be reminded of how they contributed to this beauty,” said Lauren Mactas Bowles, the school’s executive director.

“The children were so excited to be participating in planting the daffodil bulbs. They found it fascinating that these seeds were big and some of them said they actually resembled an onion and they did a…good job…of putting them in the holes and covering them and making sure they are nice and warm for the winter,” said Ms. Montemarano.

Founded in the early 1960s, the Riverdale Presbyterian Church Nursery School is a non-sectarian and multi-cultural school. New Yorkers for Parks donated the daffodil bulbs to the school, according to Ms. Mactas Bowles.

She said that events like this underscore the hands-on learning experience that they offer students. “It’s a wonderful tradition that fits into our legacy of involving families and really being a part of the community and making this community a beautiful place. It’s a legacy and a tradition that we hope to have every single year,” said the executive director.

Ms. Mactas Bowles added, “Sometimes, in the rush of daily life, it’s important to stop and just dig in the dirt and to do that with your child to show that not everything is a rush. That some things take time, just like it takes time for daffodil bulbs to grow.”

Riverdale Presbyterian Church Nursery School, RPCNS, Lauren Mactas Bowles, Nadine Bernstein, Andrea Montemarano, Dominique Salazar, Lisa Herndon

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