Follow these tips and watch your kids blossom at day camp this summer.

Kids learn anywhere—inside the home and classroom or outside under a tree. But in the summer, when the crickets are chirping and daylight stretches a little longer, nature’s education is truly showcased. It’s the perfect time to take advantage of the earth’s learning tools—ones that don’t need plugged in, downloaded or powered on.

“I don’t yike it,” says two-year-old Dorie. Her mother, Sue Stuever Battel of Elkton, Michigan, heard that complaint far too often, until she allowed her children to have their own section of the garden.

Battell and other moms like her aren’t alone in their belief that allowng children to grow their own foods encourages healthy eating. Programs in New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania involve children and the vegetable garden. Combining children and gardening isn’t difficult. After all, children and dirt naturally go together; add some seeds, with a spoon for digging and planting. Voila! Before you know it, your child is growing his own snacks.