Waitangi Kindergarten’s sunflowers get national recognition

The winner of the Tallest Sunflower and Widest Sunflower Head categories in the Daltons Sunflowers in Kindergartens Project for Northland were the Waitangi Kindergarten children, seen here with their giant sunflowers.

Northland is renowned for its high number of sunshine hours - and now a group of kindergarten kids from the Bay of Islands have produce the tallest and wildest sunflower head in the regional section of a nationwide competition.

In a year that has been tough for many whānau, a children’s sunflower-growing contest has brought smiles to thousands of young faces and imparted useful lifelong skills in the growing and nurturing of plants.

Over the past four months, 13,795 youngsters from 277 kindergartens across the country took part in Daltons Sunflowers in Kindergartens Project.

In Northland, 179 children from Northland Kindergarten Association were involved and the fun project engaged budding gardeners in friendly competition, where each kindergarten strove to grow the tallest sunflower and the sunflower with the widest head in their region. This year’s event was particularly significant, achieving the highest level of participation since the project’s inception.

The winner of both the Tallest Sunflower and Widest Sunflower Head categories in Northland was taken out by Waitangi Kindergarten, with their sunflower plant measuring in at 213cm tall with a diameter of 23cm. This is the second time Waitangi Kindergarten has taken out the win for Northland, having grown both the tallest sunflower and widest sunflower head in 2021.

“Our tamariki always get super excited for sunflower time. They love participating in the process from start to finish, planting the seeds, nurturing the seedlings, and caring for our plants. They can often be spotted checking on ‘their’ sunflowers upon arrival at kindergarten, and our whānau really get behind the competition too. Thank you, Daltons, for providing such a wonderful opportunity for our tamariki,” Waitangi Kindergarten teacher Kylie McDell said.

While mother nature threw wet and wild spring weather at many of the regions, this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the dedicated kindy growers, who learnt skills around how to protect and care for their sunflowers.

This biennial project is a hands-on learning experience for children. Engaging in activities like sowing seeds, nurturing seedlings, transplanting them and providing daily care to their plants, children not only acquire basic gardening skills but also develop a deeper understanding of plant life. It also provides a framework for teachers to integrate aspects of the project into their learning curriculum.

To reflect the diverse growing conditions across the country, winners have been selected from each of the 11 regions - Auckland, Nelson Tasman, Marlborough, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Taranaki, Tauranga, Waikato, Central Kindergartens and Northland. Every kindergarten that participated in the contest grew the same sunflower variety, King Seeds “Skyscraper” sunflowers, which can grow over four metres tall.

All the regional winners will receive a prize from Daltons, The Warehouse and Gardena for the Tallest Sunflower and Widest Sunflower Head Awards.

To recognise the great mahi that took place in growing sunflowers of all sizes, each kindergarten chose their own “Daltons Best Little Gardener’” who were awarded a special certificate and prize. Every child who took part also received their own participation certificate as a special memento.