Gardening

The birds are chirping and the bees are buzzing. Summer is here and little hands are eager to explore all that nature has to offer. Children are able to appreciate the small things that many adults take for granted. Give a child a shovel, bucket, and some sand, and they will play for hours! A great way to encourage their love for exploring and learning how things grow, is to plant a garden. It doesn't have to be very big. In fact, you can simply plant seeds in paper cups. Children will love to take care of "their" plant and watch it grow everyday.

Planting Seeds - Growing a Garden

Materials Needed:                     

  1. Paper or plastic cups                            2. Potting soil 

  3. Seeds                                                     4. Water

Instruct the children on filling up the cups with soil. Next have them choose which seeds they want to plant. Have them plant the seeds by pressing them down into the soil with their finger. Then have them water the seeds. Finally, place the seeds in a sunny spot in the classroom. Piece of cake! Just remember to have the children water their seeds everyday. They will have so much fun with the activity and watching their seeds grow into plants. Just look at the expressions on these boys faces, it says it all!

A variation to this activity would be to use plastic zippered bags and a wet paper towel in place of cups and soil. Place the seeds on the wet paper towels and place in bags. Close bags and tape to a window that gets plenty of sunlight. Seeds will sprout in a few days. This is a great way for children to learn about the plant life cycle!

Ideas for Incorporating a Gardening Theme in Your Classroom

• Flower Shop: turn your dramatic play center into a flower shop by adding small flower boxes, artificial flowers (individually cut), and floral foam. Children will have a great time making flower arrangements. Don't forget a cash register so the children can buy and sell their creations! For a sensory table idea, use potting soil mix instead of foam to plant flowers in small pots.  

• Sensory Table: there are so many different things you can add to the sensory table. Potting soil, real flowers and plants, seeds, rocks, sticks, and dirt make great additions to the sensory table. Don't forget about adding fruit and vegetable toys, small shovels and rakes too!

  I hope the these ideas will help you bring out the little gardeners in your classroom!