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Get Children growing 2026
Inspiring the next generation through fun, food, and growing
Sponsored by British Garden Centres and Westland Horticulture.
Funky Veg Grow Kits is an exciting school project designed to help pupils across the UK connect with nature, understand where food comes from, and develop lifelong skills through hands-on growing experiences.
In 2026, we’re giving 20 UK schools a chance to receive a FREE Funky Veg Grow Kit—packed with everything needed to grow colourful, unusual vegetables in the classroom or school garden.
What’s included in the Funky Veg Grow Kit?
Each kit contains:
- Coir starter pots – sustainable and easy for children to use
- Peat-free compost disks – environmentally friendly and simple to hydrate
- Wooden plant labels – perfect for learning plant names and responsibility
- Seeds for five exciting and unusual vegetables:
- Purple carrots
- Yellow courgettes
- Red Ball Brussels sprouts
- Tigerella striped tomatoes
- Rainbow chard
Taking part in Get Children Growing offers a wide range of educational, social, and wellbeing benefits:
Environmental awareness
Children learn about sustainability, peat-free growing, plant life cycles, and caring for the planet.
Learning beyond the classroom
Growing vegetables supports:
- Science (plant biology and ecosystems)
- Maths (measuring growth and time)
- Literacy (recording observations and labelling plants)
Healthy eating habits
Growing colourful and unusual vegetables encourages children to:
- Try new foods
- Understand where food comes from
- Develop positive relationships with fresh produce
Caring for plants helps children build patience, teamwork, and a sense of achievement as they watch their vegetables grow from seed to harvest.
Confidence and responsibility
Caring for plants helps children build patience, teamwork, and a sense of achievement as they watch their vegetables grow from seed to harvest.
Wellbeing and connection to nature
Gardening has proven benefits for mental health, helping children relax, focus, and feel proud of what they’ve grown.
Apply now and help your pupils discover the joy of growing their own funky vegetables!
Growing curiosity, confidence, and classrooms full of colour
Sponsored by Westland Horticulture and British Garden Centres. Seeds for Schools is part of our wider growing programme, giving children the opportunity to sow, care for, and harvest a diverse range of plants—right from the classroom or school garden.
Each school taking part in this part of the programme will receive everything they need to start growing straight away, removing barriers and making growing accessible for all.
What’s included?
- 10 packets of seeds, carefully selected to offer variety and excitement, including:
- Herbs
- Leafy greens
- Vegetables
- Flowers
- Compost is supplied alongside the seeds, ensuring schools have the correct growing medium and don’t need to source anything extra. Need pots? We can help you with them also.
This all-in-one approach means teachers can focus on learning and fun, not logistics
Why is Seeds for School good for children?
Hands on learning
Sowing seeds and watching them grow brings lessons to life, supporting learning across:
- Science (plant growth, life cycles, pollination)
- Maths (counting seeds, measuring growth)
- Literacy (instructions, journals, plant names)
Healthy food awareness
Growing herbs and vegetables helps children understand where food comes from, encourages curiosity about fresh ingredients, and supports healthier food choices.
Creativity and curiosity
Flowers and herbs stimulate the senses—smell, colour, texture—helping children engage creatively while learning about biodiversity and nature.
Environmental responsibility
Children develop an early understanding of sustainability, caring for living things, and the importance of green spaces for people and wildlife.
Wellbeing and confidence
Gardening promotes calm, focus, and teamwork. Seeing seeds they planted thrive builds confidence, patience, and a strong sense of achievement.
Designed for schools
- No prior growing experience needed
- Suitable for classrooms, raised beds, or outdoor spaces
- Fully resourced with seeds and compost included
Seeds for School helps children grow more than plants—it helps grow skills, wellbeing, and a lifelong connection to nature.
How to take part
✔️ The kits are completely FREE for schools that are successful
✔️ Funky Veg Kits open to 20 schools across the UK , and 30 places for Seeds For Schools
✔️ No previous growing experience needed
Apply now and help your pupils discover the joy of growing their own funky vegetables!
Get Children Growing : Our 2025 Trial Year Impact
In 2025, The Plant Pod proudly launched the trial year of our Get Children Growing campaign, an initiative designed to reconnect children with plants, food, and nature through hands-on growing experiences.
Working in partnership with British Garden Centres, Westland Horticulture, Mr Fothergill’s Seeds, and Webbs Garden Centres, we set out with a simple but ambitious goal:
remove barriers to growing and give children the opportunity to learn by doing – completely free of charge.
Supporting Schools Across the UK
Earlier this year, The Plant Pod opened applications to primary schools across the UK. From a strong and inspiring response, we selected 15 schools nationwide to take part in the Get Children Growing pilot year.
Each selected school received FREE Sunflower Growing Kits, enabling whole classes – and in many cases entire schools – to take part. In total, we distributed:
- 5,000 sunflower grow kits
- 15 schools supported across the UK
- Hundreds of children actively engaged in growing, observing, and learning
Each kit was thoughtfully designed with sustainability and education at its core.
What Was Included in the Sunflower Kits?
Every sunflower growing kit included:
- Peat-free compost
- Plantable starter pots
- 1L taupe curb side recyclable pots
- High-quality sunflower seeds
- Child-friendly activity sheets to support learning and reflection
All kits were 100% sustainable and given away completely FREE to participating schools.
This would not have been possible without the generosity of our partners:
- Westland Horticulture & British Garden Centres donated the peat-free compost
- Mr Fothergill’s Seeds provided all sunflower seeds
- Webbs Garden Centres donated the recyclable growing pots
Together, we demonstrated what can be achieved when education, horticulture, and industry work collaboratively for children’s wellbeing and environmental awareness.
Going Beyond Sunflowers: Funky Veg for Even More Impact
In addition to the sunflower kits, The Plant Pod expanded the campaign even further by distributing 3,000 Funky Veg Grow Kits.
These kits were generously donated by The International Children’s Gardening Coach, Lee Connelly, and were designed to spark curiosity, excitement, and conversations around food diversity and healthy eating.
Each Funky Veg Grow Kit included:
- Coir starter pots
- Peat-free compost disks
- Wooden plant labels
- Seeds for five exciting and unusual vegetables, that include:
- Purple carrots
- Yellow courgettes
- Red Ball Brussels sprouts
- Tigerella striped tomatoes
- Rainbow chard
- Purple carrots
These kits were sent directly to schools and also given away through garden centres across the West Midlands and Worcestershire, helping us reach even more families and children beyond the classroom.
Outcomes That Matter
The 2025 trial year of Get Children Growing delivered real, measurable outcomes:
- 8,000+ grow kits distributed
- Thousands of children actively growing plants and food
- Increased understanding of sustainability, composting, and food origins
- Improved confidence, curiosity, and engagement through hands-on learning
- Strong partnerships have been formed between education and the horticulture industry
For schools, the programme removed financial barriers and supported curriculum learning.
For parents, it encouraged children to engage with nature at home and at school.
For funders and partners, it demonstrated how targeted support can create meaningful, scalable impact.
Reflecting on 2025 – and Looking Ahead
The success of our trial year has shown just how powerful growing can be when children are given the tools, encouragement, and opportunity to get involved. What started as a pilot has become a clear proof of concept – and we are only just getting started.
