Social Impact
Urban Agriculture
Education

bee-Themed
Tot-Lot Garden

Envisioning a bee-themed community garden for young children that live in a marginalized community. This project was done in collaboration with the non-profit organization Harlem Grown.

**Context**

🥬 *Numerous Harlem residents face food security concerns, leaving youth with little knowledge of nutrition and health*
🥬 *Abandoned lots along the streets are either repurposed as parking areas or overrun with overgrown weeds*

**Challenge**

🍓 *Reimagining Harlem’s food system via integrating experiential learning opportunities with food access for young children*
🍓 *Strengthening relationships with food, agriculture, nutrition, and health*

**Considerations**

🫛 *How do you convince toddlers and preschoolers to learn about food security?*
🫛 *How do you design a garden that enables experiential learning?*
🫛 *And, how do you ensure sustainable practices and design?*

**Creativity**

🐝 *Bee-themed educational hub*
🐝 *Interaction with gardening, honeybees, pollination, and more*
🐝 *Repurposed planter bottle wall for toddlers*
🐝 *Community space for cooking, learning, and gathering*

outcome

Mixing education, experience, young children, sustainability, and food resulted in: a bee-themed community garden with an in-house beehive that children can interact with, a planter bottle wall that enables children to grow their own individual plants to track the growth of, color-coded hexagonal planters that added life to the garden, birdhouses that enabled interaction with other species, and an activity zone where children could take what they grow, cook it, paint with it, eat it, and more!

Color-Coded Raised Planter Beds

These raised planters add an element of playfulness and visual appeal, growing greens, tomatoes, fruits, and more.
In-House Bee Hive

Maintained carefully, this honeybee hive will provide educational opportunities for pollination and the importance of honeybees.
Essential Tool Shed

Located at the rear-end of the site, this tool shed covers the honeybees, while also collecting rainwater for irrigation, and storing tools away from the toddlers.
Birdbaths & Birdhouses

Paths for interacting with a variety of species weave through the site, where fragrant flowers create an inviting walkway for community members.
Upcycled Planter Wall

An upcycled planter bottle wall near the activity zone allows young toddlers to track the growth of their very own plants!