Junior Herbalist Club

The aim of Junior Herbalist Club (JHC) is to let children learn about the healing and medicinal plants all around them in a safe and supervised environment, whilst covertly incorporating core subjects including English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Botany, Latin and Cookery. JHC also helps children to gain confidence, improve fine motor control and develop a new skill set.

Junior Herbalist Club (JHC) is a course for children (aged 7-12) which runs for 90 minutes, once a month, for 10 months of the year. The children are taken on a journey of discovery, engaging all their senses with playful practical skills. A great way of engaging children is through making ‘lotions and potions’ to take home.

JHC Leaders undergo specific training and must be members of a professional association in order to deliver classes. Currently I’m the only Medical Herbalist offering Junor Herbalist Club classes in Cheshire.

Junior Herbalist Club was originally created by Mel Hornby, a Medical Herbalist in Lancashire and classes have been run in the UK since 2014.

JHC has been planned so that each month the children build on their knowledge and skills. We start off with Lavender, a well-known and easily identifiable plant, and progress on to making sun-teas, infused oils, poultices, cordials, bath-bombs, and lip balms.

At the end of each session the children are given a worksheet to complete so they develop a portfolio of learning.

By the end of the year, we hope that the children will be able to:

Correctly identify many of the common medicinal plants growing in their gardens, parks, hedgerows and streets and that they will be able to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous plants.
Know the medicinal properties of many common plants.
Understand how to use some of these plants in first aid and how to use some plants for making medicines.
Enjoy listening to the stories and tales of folklore and history surrounding the plants and herbal medicine.
Know how to cultivate and harvest plants whilst respecting their environment and all of nature.

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Junior Herbalist Club classes include:

Identification of common herbs growing all around

Safety – which herbs are safe to use and which are poisonous

Folklore – taught through stories and songs

How to grow and harvest herbs

Medicinal uses of common herbs

How to use a variety of common herbs for first aid

How to make a variety of herbal preparations to keep and take home

Respect for all plants and their environment

Once the children have completed year one there is the option to continue into year two, where the course develops with more herbs and more complex ‘making’ tasks. There is also the option of delivering the JHC curriculum as 32-weekly sessions over the academic year either within schools or as an after-school club and for home ed groups.

Please do contact me if you are an interested parent or school for more information.

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“Our youngest two children (aged 8 and 11) are really enjoying JHC so far – Cath is such a warm, welcoming and engaging teacher, who they both really like. She’s very knowledgeable and delivers useful, interactive content that they can both understand and have fun with, as well as take forward into everyday life. They’ve already asked if they can enrol for year two, which is probably the best recommendation a child can give!”

Every month I share seasonal inspiration from my Cheshire garden and allotment, as well as herbs I’m working with in my practice. Join me in the apothecary!

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