More than 13,000 kindergarten tots around New Zealand will become little green thumbs and showcase their gardening know-how by competing with other kindergartens in their region to grow the tallest sunflower or widest sunflower head.
The 2019 Daltons Sunflowers in Kindergartens Project started on Monday and runs until Tuesday December 10, with winners announced on Thursday December 12. This is the fifth time Daltons has run this popular project.
This year 636 Taranaki children are taking part through 12 kindergartens. Each kindergarten received a free Daltons starter pack including peat pots, measuring tape, seed raising and potting mix and everything the children need to grow their own Kings Seeds Skyscraper Sunflowers, which can grow up to four metres high.
Children will grow their gardening skills and knowledge sowing seeds, germination, caring for seedlings, planting them out and daily care of their plant. They will also be exposed to basic math concepts, measuring and recording their plant's growth each week, and teachers can integrate aspects of the project into their learning curriculum.
There are a total of 248 kindergartens within 11 kindergarten associations throughout New Zealand who have signed up in the project.