Even if you have room for a real garden at your house, the kids will love a special spot to call their own. You can accomplish this by picking up an old car tire can be "all theirs!"
The idea with this project is for kids to learn where their food comes from and to be able to actually plant little seeds and watch them grow. Kids are fascinated with the entire process!
To make this project even more fun, pick up an old tire (one for each child, if you have the room). The tires can be spray painted colors like bright yellow and then the kids can personalize them with paint pens or acrylic paints. Let the tire dry overnight before planting.
I suggest that you take the kids to pick out their seeds. Just make sure that it makes good sense and if it they want to grow watermelons, keep in mind that is all the tire will hold! Grins...
edlings in. Pour a little water in the hole, then put the seedling in the hole and fill around it with dirt... instant garden!With their little sprinkling cans, have them water everything until it is just damp... make sure they don't drown their little seeds as too much water will make them rot before they have a chance to sprout!
The seeds will be sprouting in no time! Have the kids check their "tire garden" daily and see if it needs water. They will be thrilled when the little seedlings get bigger and bigger and will be especially thrilled when the first little sprout pops through the soil from the seeds they planted!
You might want to consider
letting the kids pick out one type of plant that is already growing as
well as some seeds. They can plant the seeds on one side of the tire and
plant the seedlings on the other side. Another fun suggestion is for
them to plop a whirly gig in with their plants, making it look like a
real garden!
By the way, you can get almost everything at one of the dollar stores for this project!
Here's what you're going to need for this project:
Old car tire
Various paints for decorating and personalizing the tire
Potting soil
Seeds and seedlings
Sunshine
Water
Little plastic water sprinkling can
All
righty... here we go... place the tire in a spot that gets plenty of
sunshine. Fill the tire with soil all the way to the top. Pack the soil
firmly... let them get their hands in the dirt! Explain that the soil
can't be packed down really hard as their won't be any air in there.
Also, you want the soil to be loose to cover the seeds.
Read
the seed packet instructions together as how deep to plant the seeds
and how far apart... I wouldn't worry about the "how far apart" part of
it... just let them plant the seeds! Let them use their finger and draw a
line in the soil for a "row" to plant their seeds... no, it doesn't
matter if the row isn't straight! Let the kids do this, k? Make sure
they don't plant the seeds too deep.
Now
let them cover the seeds and gently pat the top... keyword is gently!
Have them use their hands to dig little holes to plant the se
Make plans for a special recipe to make something from what they've planted when it's ready to harvest.
Happy gardening,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids
