Sunflowers

To add some extra colour to your garden and give a fun challenge to your pupils, why not grow some 'Sponsored Sunflowers'?

Sunflowers are a great addition to any garden and are easy enough for kids to grow, often with very impressive results. You can have lots of fun growing them: they could grow up the side of your classrooms, line the entrance to school, or make a fun border to a composting area. They are also grown by many Send a Cow African farmers as the stalks can be used for firewood and the seeds can be used in a cow 'cake', a favourite treat for African cows. If you've made an Energy-saving Stove, then you can now grow your own fuel-wood!

Sponsored Sunflowers

To grow sunflowers and help African families, run your own competition, with pupils getting sponsored for every centimetre that their sunflower grows. This way children can grow them, find out why African farmers use them, and raise money for African families at the same time – perfect! The tallest sunflowers grown at home or at school can be entered into our African Gardens Competition; send photos, and preferably a video, by the end of September.

'Phytosterol from sunflower seeds can strengthen the immune system, flush out toxins and reduce cholesterol.'

World's Healthiest Foods

Resources

We have a gallery of pictures of sunflowers being grown in our Africa projects and some fact sheets all about how they are used by farming families.