Help Our Planet
(list of things you can do)
TheKidsGarden contains over 60 articles all written by a team of experts and they add around 10 new articles each month.
Avocado Tree
This is an old favorite:
After using an avocado, save the pit for a future plant.
Using 3 - 4 toothpicks, stick them in the avocado pit.
Place in a jar or glass of water, so only the bottom of the point is in the water.
It may take a while for the foots to appear.
Once there are a fair amount of roots, plant in a pot and place in good bright light.
Book Review:
"Compost! Growing Gardens from Your Garbage"
For a children's garden, add a wooden dinosaur sculpture, or a toad house. Even a pot person, created out of clay pots.
Bug catching is fun - but teach the "catch and release" program.
Children love to work in miniature. Create a terrarium out of a two gallon soda bottle. Mosses, pebbles for walkways, and bark can spark the imagination.
For a fast one-week grow and reaction from children, grow wheat grain or alfalfa seeds. This can easily be done by using a cereal bowl size container.
- Place a folded paper towel.
- Sprinkle seeds
- Place in a plastic bag & create a mini-greenhouse.
- In a week: great sprouts to trim and eat.
Children's Gardening and Other Links:
One of our readers shared a resource that gives a deeper look into the history, uses and benefits of rattan in ourdoor home and community gardening: Rattan Garden Furniture
A Girl Scout troop wrote to us to tell us they found this gardening page helpful.
One of our gardening classes (Mrs. Dawson's Class) suggested this web page on how to build a base for the shed in your backyard. Step-by-step instructions and a video. Hope this helps!
Family Fun with Free Caterpillar DIY Garden Project
One of our friends, Cindy, found this great Topiary site for us! Thanks, Cindy.
Kids Gardening - one of the best resources on the Web I've came across for kids.
Vegetable Gardening for Dummies - a recently published visual guide helpful for novices or those looking to get started in gardening.
Earth Easy - a guide for gardening with children, including tips on what to plant
An Introduction to Hydroponics for Kids
Mary, one of our readers, suggested this page for gardening ideas. It has some very good children's links at the bottom of the page. Thanks.
Amy, from Mrs Ward's Class in Maine, found a great site on Photosynthesis that they all wanted to share with us: Brilliant Outdoor's Education Center Photosynthesis for Kids. Thanks.
Erika at Cleary Mountain Elementary School in Virginia suggested this page: "All About Sustainable Gardening" as a good reference for green gardening. Thanks!
Ms McKnight's Tutor Group suggested this resource rich page at Serenata Flowers. Its a great children's guide to plants, botany, gardening, hydroponics, and horticulture. Thanks!
One of our readers who is a teacher recommended a great herb web site with an especially good children's section: Monterey Bay Spice Company. Thanks!
Gardening for Kids - Posting fun & unique ideas on how we can teach our children the joys of gardening.
The Great Plant Escape - The University of Illinois Extension has done a wonderful job in putting this site together. Great Ideas to implement.
KinderGarden - This site is very well organized and just the right spot if one wants to start a school garden.
The Butterfly Website http://butterflywebsite.com/
The Bug Club at www.ex.ac.uk/bugclub: great for the young entomologist and those not quite so young.