Sprout

What it does

Sprout is an activity table for elementary school that enriches nutrition education through simple food production processes. By observing natural phenomena and interacting with ingredients, children create positive memories and build confidence and awareness.

Your inspiration

Obesity has become one of the biggest problems in the world today, with alarmingly high rates among children. Today's children are growing up in an environment characterized by marketing and convenience. When I visited schools across Germany, I found that many children did not know that French fries are made from potatoes. Since the connection to nature is increasingly being neglected, I saw this as an opportunity. Children are curious and inquisitive, so I wanted to excite them about the natural phenomena of food production. I aimed to encourage them to wonder, ask questions and develop a positive relationship with food.

How it works

In schools, children come into contact with food through nutrition education and school meals. However, the gap between nutrition education, food preparation and food consumption is large, preventing children from seeing where food comes from. Sprout offers an opportunity to recreate simple food processes in a school classroom. The vertical garden allows plants to be grown and three functional drawers (warm, moist, cool) support different food processes, such as drying fruit, growing mushrooms and experimenting with temperature changes. The technical package is based on the concept of a heat pump that uses the energy from generating cool temperatures for heating and the condensation liquid to fill the water reservoir for humidity. To assist in a busy classroom, Sprout provides work areas for individual or group activities while trays and containers can extend the activities to the classroom tables. Teachers can use activity cards as guidelines during the class.

Design process

The first step of the process involved four in-depth school visits. I had the opportunity to speak to many stakeholders, from nutrition experts to principals, teachers, kitchen staff and students. Based on the findings, I realized that the biggest problem was the distance between the preparation and consumption of food in schools. This was an opportunity that allowed me to think about involving children in hands-on food production. However, the challenge was to integrate these activities into an average classroom with limited space and a large number of children. Thinking about modular solutions and selecting simple activities enabled the development of Sprout. To determine the dimensions, a life-size prototype was created. To test the feasibility of the concept, I organised a workshop with a group of children, testing usability and workflow of the activities. I realized that the children needed clearer guidance around the table, so I designed a colour scheme of green for elements of growth and change and orange for the parts that allow interaction. Lastly, I presented the concept to a teacher who suggested that I create a guide to assure easy implementation into the curriculum. The cards with tasks and support during the class were the last important part of Sprout.

How it is different

Unlike traditional food education models, such as the food pyramid, Sprout centres on active and practical introduction to ingredients and exploration of their use cases. Children can observe the different steps of the food production, from seeing a seed sprout, to caring for the plant, to enjoying fresh basil on a sandwich or freshly brewed tea from dried fruit. Sprout integrates into various subjects such as biology, art or chemistry, making it a flexible tool across the curriculum. The content can be adapted to teach about seasonal and local characteristics of the school location, as well as be expanded by the suggestions of individual students with different cultural backgrounds. The activity cards with creative tasks encourage children to carry the activities into their homes and influence the habits of their families. By encouraging food confidence from a young age, we can minimize the development of unhealthy eating habits in the long term.

Future plans

During school visits and discussions with teachers, it became clear that a change in nutrition education is necessary and the positive reactions to the concept show that new solutions are welcome. As funding is a problem for state institutions, the first step would be to find potential partners to cover the costs. An initial low-cost prototype with reduced technical requirements could travel between schools and be introduced to children at events or extracurricular activities. With the gained knowledge and support for further development, the concept would be refined and given to a few schools for integration into an entire school year.

Awards