Garden Planning With Your Young Sprouts
|
Email Page
Print Page
|
|
|
Extras
|
When the weather outside is frightful, planning a garden with your children inside can be delightful. Here are some tips to spark spring fever, wake up young artists and inspire fresh, healthful cooking in your winter-weary house.
Materials needed: - Storybooks about gardens, fruits and vegetables from your local library
- Several large pieces of drawing paper
- Crayons, markers or colored pencils
Seed catalogs or garden guides
Getting started: - Prime the pump. Reading aloud to young children fires up their imaginations and kindles curiosity. You might tell a whimsical tale about garden fairies, a silly story about a reluctant vegetable eater or a factual account of a garden’s glory before asking your children to help plan their very own garden spot in your own yard.
- After story time, clear off your kitchen table and give each child several sheets of paper, as well as crayons, markers or colored pencils. Ask them to draw a picture of your house or apartment, including front, back and side yards, porches, balconies and decks. (Some drawings may appear “abstract,” and that’s just fine!)
- Help children mark an “X” by the sunniest spots around your home. (Most plants prefer at least six hours of sun each day.) If you have a shady yard, note a sunny porch, balcony or deck where you can keep a few pots or start a container garden.
- Look through seed catalogs for fruits and vegetables that look good enough to eat, then ask your kids to draw those plants in their marked garden spots. Talk with them about growing at least one new “taste experience” this spring. (This will also broaden your children’s exposure to nutritious foods.)
|
| Facts |
- In 1912, Italian physician Maria Montessori recognized the value of children spending time in gardens, stating, “When [the child] knows that the life of the plants that have been sown depends upon his care in watering them…without which the little plant dries up…the child becomes vigilant, as one who is beginning to feel a mission in life.”
|
| Resources |
- Looking for a few food and gardening book suggestions for your children? Check out the following titles:
Dig, Plant, Grow: A Kid’s Guide to Gardening by Felder Rushing
Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child
My Backyard Garden by Carol Lerner
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy
Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens
Treasure Hunt with the Munch Crunch Bunch: A Healthy Fun Food Adventure! by Jan Wolterman, Melinda Hemmelgarn and J.W. Wolterman
The Victory Garden Kids’ Book: A Fun Guide to Growing Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers by Marjorie Waters - University Extension offices and Websites often offer excellent information on edible flowers, including what’s delicious and safe, and what could be risky or toxic. (Be careful!)
Read More...
|
|
|
Page 1 of 2
|
Next Steps
|
Articles
|
|
|
|
|