Much like watching your child grow, there’s something amazing about taking a seed and watching it transform in to something as beautiful as a flower or as nourishing as a vegetable. Because my thumb is anything but green, I turned to Marianne, an avid gardener who blogs at The New Frugal Mom, for some fun and easy projects perfect for our young aspiring gardeners. – Shannan
Spring is here and the world is bursting alive with flowers, birds, and the joyful shouts of children playing outside again after a long - and, for many of us, an extra-snowy - winter.
As the days get longer and warmer, you can take advantage of the season to create a fun outdoor gardening project with your kids. Through gardening, you can explore science and nature together with your child while having fun digging in the dirt.
Here are several simple gardening projects you can try with your sweet peas:
Egg Heads
This little project is a good for indoor gardeners and beginner gardeners alike. Using an empty and clean egg shell as a planter pot, fill the shell with planting soil and then sprinkle with grass seeds. Gently water your seeds, then place the egg shell planter in a sunny window and wait for your seeds to sprout. You can even add a face to your egg shell if you're feeling creative. Click here for an example.
Sprout Seeds in a Sandwich Bag
Another great project to start indoors is germinating seeds in a plastic sandwich bag that's taped to a sunny window. All you need are dry beans or sunflower seeds, plastic sandwich bags, paper towels, and masking tape. Dampen the paper towel, place it in the sandwich bag, and then add your seed. Tape the closed bag to a sunny window and wait for nature to happen! You can even transplant your new seedling to an outdoor spot in your yard or in a container once it outgrows its bag. For more detailed directions on this project, click here.
Create a Butterfly Garden
Children are entranced by butterflies - why not start a small garden filled with plants that attract butterflies? Several different types of annual and perennial flowers can be mixed with perennial shrubs to create a beautiful and colorful spot that will tempt butterflies. Be careful, though; bees are often attracted to these same blooming plants as well! For a list of plants to use in creating your butterfly garden, click here.
Grow Your Own Salad
Are you ready to step up your gardening game plan? Try your hand at planting a small container garden filled with salad vegetables and have your child help you select what you'll grow to eat later this spring. Container gardens can be grown in just about anything as long as it has holes for drainage so be creative and reuse items you already have around the house. For more ideas on growing your own salad container garden, click here.
Gardening together with your child is a simple and practical way to teach them about the outdoors while making great memories, too. Go get growing!
Last summer the boys and my husband Marty planted a small herb garden in our back yard. I never would have guessed that they would enjoy it so much. All summer long they took care of it – making sure the herbs had enough water, picking out the weeds and even helping fend off the caterpillars (no small feat). I was so proud of them and they were beaming with pride each time we used their herbs to make a meal. The boys are already talking about what they’ll plant this year – watermelons!
Will your family be planting a garden this year? If so, what’s on your gardening agenda? Veggies? Flowers? Berry bushes? Perhaps a tree in honor of Arbor Day?