Gardening At Your School
By Linda Hlozansky
When Did Your Love of Gardening Begin?
Many Gardeners will say…when I was a
child. Mom, Dad, Grandma, or Grandpa
shared their love of gardening with me.
GARDENING WILL UNPLUG THE
CHILDREN!
I need some ideas…..
Seed Race:
Use a peat pot starter with several segments
Add soil
Put a different seed or two in each segment
See which will come up first.
Choose Seeds that Germinate Quickly!
Radish
Carrot
Pumpkin
Zucchini
Cucumber
Peas
Try Potatoes in early spring out in the garden.
Digging
This is great fun, but our clay soil is really
hard for young children to dig. Find a pot,
raised bed, or old sand box (with a lot of
holes in the bottom), and put in some good
garden soil.
Children need child-sized tools
Look for Worms or Bugs!
Water!
They will enjoy it! They learn to care for something.
Harvesting
They may eat their vegetables if they grew them!
Add Color and Interest with
Flowers
Write the Child’s Name in Flowers
Make a Rainbow with Flowers
Enter Something In the Fair
Ownership is essential.
Say, “Your garden” or “Our Tomatoes”
Make the garden a place to play
Welcome to Gnome Town.
Grow Places to Hide!
Make a Scarecrow
Use the child’s old clothes and let him name it.
Make Stepping Stones
Make a ROCK Garden!
With or Without Plants
Make a Mini-Garden in a Pot
Add Sand to the Garden!
Make Plant Markers
Make a Terrarium
Make Yard or Garden Art
Make Egg Heads!
Make Grass Caterpillars
Kitchen Gardening
Grow an Avocado Plant
Grow a Sweet Potato Vine
Grow Herbs
Grow Alfalfa Sprouts
Grow an African Violet
Grow a Pineapple Top
Grow a Dish Garden
You have done all of these things, but they
haven’t
Grow A Salad in a Bowl or
Colander
Berries Attract Kids Like Flowers
Attract Bees
Make Tea With Your Mint
Collect Seeds for Gifts
Encourage Teens to Garden too!
Give them an area of their own!
Make Fairy Houses
Birney Elementary Junior Master
Gardeners Love Fairy Houses
Check Out A Couple Of Books
Nature Website
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides
Gardening With Kids
This is a print magazine and a website.
Look at the website, and if you like it you
might want a subscription.
Additional Websites!
National Wildlife Federation
The Great Sunflower Project
Monarchs across Georgia
Kids Gardening http://www.kidsgardening.com
Young Gardeners http://www.younggardeners.com
Earth Easy
www.storeforknowledge.com tools,gloves&more
Book List
Read a book about a garden topic and
follow up with an activity. For instance:
1.Read the book Linnea’s
Windowsill Garden
by Christine Bjork.
2. Make a windowsill garden.
We Made A Book List For You
Here are some books to buy or borrow from
the Cobb County Public Library.
The books with * are available from the
public library.
Book List
1. Read Pumpkin, Pumpkin
by Jeanne Titherington.
2. Plant pumpkin seeds.
Book List
1. Read Sam Plants a Sunflower
by Kate Petty
2. Plant a Sunflower
Book List
1. Read The Empty Pot
by Demi
2. Help the child plant
flower seeds.
Book List
1.Read The Man Who Planted Trees
by Jean Giono.
(6th grade - adult)
2. Plant a tree.
Avoid poisonous or thorny plants.
Relax and Enjoy
The Goal is to enjoy the time together in the
garden. No need for perfection!