Grow a garden.
Meet the microbes.
Play real science.
Dr. Dirt's garden game, microscope, story books and printables help kids discover the living world under their feet, at home and in the classroom.
Who's here today?
Pick your door. Everything on this site is made for curious kids and the grown-ups who teach them.
Kids
I want to play!
Grow your own half-acre garden, catch forest microbes, build compost and peek at soil life under the microscope.
Teachers
Bring Dr. Dirt to my classroom
Dr. Dirt's Classroom Prescription: every child gets their own garden, you get the controls, the reports and the lessons.
Families
We learn at home
Read Dr. Dirt's books together, print flashcards and games, and try eleven soil tests with things from your kitchen.
Dr. Dirt's Classroom Prescription
Grow With Dr. Dirt 2.0, built for the classroom. Every child gets a half-acre garden next to their classmates', grown by the real weather where your school is.
- Children sign in with a class code and three pictures: no email, no typing passwords.
- You run the clock: pause, speed up, fast-forward a season, open lots for "together days".
- Microscope lessons with samples you choose, and engagement reports you can print for your principal.
- Pricing is worked out with Dr. Dirt to match your school's budget, so every class can play.
Prescription for a curious class
Take: one half-acre garden per child
With: real local weather, a microscope and a class of friends
Dose: a few minutes a day, or a big "together day"
Side effects: asking questions, washing hands, loving soil
Refills: unlimited
Dr. Dirt's books
Rhyming garden mysteries where Dr. Dirt measures first, then fixes the soil. Read them free right here, or print a cut-and-fold copy.
The Nosy Rooster
The Potato and the Tomato
The Stubborn Seed
The Rainy Day Rust
The Holiday Pine Patch
The Twisting Twin StalksFlashcards, games and lessons
Free printables for the classroom table and the kitchen table.
Soil life flashcards
Eight real microscope photos with a fact on the back.
Microbe card games
Memory, Bingo, Go Fish and Guess Who, with 35 soil microbes.
Microscope labs
Worksheets for ages 5-8, 9-14 and 15 and up, with answer keys.
Soil tests at home
Eleven experiments with a jar, some water and your backyard.
Dr. Dirt's School of Natural Wisdom
A six-week outdoor course on the land in Mountain View, Hawaiʻi: soil, compost, chickens, healing herbs and a microscope slide every single day.
Hi, I'm Dr. Dirt!
In my books, my games and my soil lab, I'm Dr. Dirt. As Coach Josh I've coached hundreds of kids, and for 23 years I've taken a week off every year to read Dr. Seuss in classrooms across several school districts. Thousands of children have heard me read.
Trained in a chemistry lab, I couldn't trust what I couldn't see, so I picked up a microscope. Today I run a soil lab in Mountain View, Hawaiʻi, and I build games and books that show kids the life in their soil.
“We’ll never know all of the answers… but that doesn’t mean we should stop asking.”
—Dr. Dirt