Summer gardening camp at Mounts Botanical Garden filled with healthy snacks your kids will devour

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A summer gardening camp is set to start in July at Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach.

Each week of the camp will have a theme focusing on different environmental sciences. And each day campers, ages seven to 11, will make their own healthy snack with produce you can find in a garden.

Menu items like Air Fryer Zucchini Pizza Bites, crunchy taco chickpeas, and Air Fried Green Beans (recipes below).

Camp Themes & Snacks:

• Week 1: July 10-14 – Sun & Sky 

• • Activities: solar cars, UV bead craft, wind turbines, owl pellet dissection, solar tote bags, solar ovens, sun prints, seed bombs.

• • Homemade Snacks: pickles, blueberry ice pops, zucchini pizzas, chia pudding, solar oven chocolate chip cookies

• Week 2: July 17-21 – Land & Soil 

• • Activities: strawberry DNA necklaces, sprout houses, flower dissections, fossil excavations, geodes, gem mining, leaf print tote bags, pizza terrariums

• • Snacks: strawberry ice Pops, roasted taco chick peas, air fried green beans, air fried apples and ice cream, cauliflower tots, hummus and carrots

• Week 3: July 24-28 – Water 

• • Activities: capillary action/dyeing live carnations, water testing, macroinvertebrate identification, terrariums, aquatic plants, the water cycle, jelly marbles, flood houses, treasure trek, boat building, aquifers

• • Snacks: caprese salad kabobs, parmesan zucchini chips, puffed rice snowballs, guacamole and tortilla chips, fruit and yogurt ice pops
    

The camp is daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and costs $250 week for members and $290 a week for non-members. There are extended care options.
Mounts Botanical Garden’s Explorers Camp Healthy Snack Recipes by Diane Robina 

AIR FRYER ZUCCHINI PIZZA BITES

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 large zucchini
• ½ cup of pizza sauce
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• Pizza topping as desired
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Slice zucchini into 1-inch thick rounds and arrange in the air fryer with a little space between slices.
2.  Top zucchini slices with salt and pepper, pizza sauce, cheese and your favorite pizza toppings.
3. Air fry at 350 degrees for 5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted.

 CRUNCHY TACO CHICKPEAS

Ingredients:

• 1 can chick peas
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 package of taco seasoning

Instructions:

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Let them dry for about 20 minutes. This helps them to get crispy.
2.  Pour the chickpeas into a mixing bowl. Add the olive oil and toss to coat.
3.  Add the chickpeas to the air fryer basket and roast them for about 15 minutes at 380 degrees shaking the basket about every 5 minutes.
4.  Remove the chickpeas once they are crunchy and add taco seasoning to coat.  

AIR FRIED GREEN BEANS

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of green beans
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Spice blend of your choice. We use salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika, but you can use any spices you like.

Instructions:

1. Snap off the ends of the green beans.
2.  Put green beans into a mixing bowl and add the olive oil.
3.  Sprinkle on the seasoning and toss to coat.
4.  Put the green beans into the air fryer basket.
5.  Air fry the green beans for 10-12 minutes on 390 degrees. Shake the green beans every 5 minutes to make sure they cook evenly.