"This is how lemon trees look like!" "I like the sweet and sour blueberries the most, I hope it grows up soon..." Taking advantage of the "May Day" holiday, the social worker teacher of the Wuliqiao Street Children's Service Center led the small street "children's councilors" from the Affiliated Primary School of Shanghai Normal College to come to Quzhong Small Farm again to add a little greenery to the spring community.
The students formed a team, some loosened the soil and dug pits, some helped the seedlings to plant, and some carried water to water... Although the children's shoes were stained with dirt and their clothes were soaked with sweat, their cute little faces were full of excitement and joy.
Under the guidance of professional teachers, the students not only learned to identify plants and understand planting skills, but also realized the importance of harmonious coexistence between man and nature and the protection of water resources through team games.
Since February this year, the deliberators have begun to discuss and propose intensely, and Quzhong Small Farm, one of the small farm 4.0 plans, has gradually taken shape, and finally formed the "Wuli Small Orchard" that now features fruits and vegetables. With the help of social workers, the children's councilors learned about the site conditions of the "Wuli Small Orchard", communicated with the teachers of the neighborhood committee and the surrounding residents, and finally selected the flower beds on the edge of the site to carry out the transformation of the small farm.
In March, the children's deliberators revolved around: What model of autonomy? How to create an atmosphere? What kind of plants to grow? Three issues were discussed, proposed and voted on. Through discussion, the autonomy model of small farms was finally determined: old and small pairs, co-governance, inviting older residents to participate in the daily maintenance of small farms, pairing with autonomous children's families, teaching children to plant knowledge, and exchanging labor for fruit and vegetable output.
In April, the councillors once again came to the "Wuli Little Orchard" to create a child-friendly atmosphere, and based on the content of the previous discussions, the deliberators hung child-friendly signs on the walls and planted signs for the fruit trees. Subsequent children's councillors also plan to put "new clothes" on the flower beds and surrounding walls and carry out hand-painted beautification.
In the future, the "Wuli Little Orchard" activity will also be designed and carried out with the participation of children's councilors, and a variety of feasible solutions have been proposed, such as: regularly organizing parent-child activities, recruiting volunteers to participate in planting, launching planting competitions, and establishing a points system.
With the implementation of the WULI Small Farm 4.0 plan, the Wuliqiao Street Children's Councillors will continue to participate and change through their own actions, cultivate a sense of "action" from an early age, drive families to bring their families closer to the community, grow up with the community, and build a child-friendly environment together.
Reporter/Zhu Lin
Edited by Zhelin Zong
Photo / Wuliqiao Street Children's Service Center