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Activities plus

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Outdoor Activities

  • Art projects: draw pictures of plants, produce, flowers; decorate fencing, wooden beds, and containers around plants; create stepping-stone paths, painting. 

  • Bird habitats activity: birds, nests, etc. 

  • Build bug houses

  • Charm snails & slugs

  • Cook 

  • Dig 

  • Eat, smell

  • Environmental education activities.

  • Examine things up close

  • Feel things, including emotions

  • Find a magic spot

  • Good bugs/bad bugs identification activity.

  • Harvest

  • Help with anything you’re doing

  • Hunt for bugs

 

  • Grow herbs & bulbs to give as gifts year round.

  • Listen to the wind, frogs, crickets, bees, chimes, cicada

  • Make bouquets

  • Make garden shrines

  • Make plant collages

 

  • Plant seeds & starts

  • Predators (praying mantis, ladybugs) and plowers (earthworms/red worms) activity.

  • Press flowers

  • Pull weeds (kids love to do this for some reason)

  • Rake leaves (and jumping in them)

  • Read about bugs and plants

  • Read about gardens and/or read in the garden.

  • Save seeds

  • Sift compost

  • Sing songs

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  • Take field trips to local farms, farmer’s markets, community gardens, flower beds in local parks. 

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Indoor activities

  • Bulbs planted in off-season

  • Carpentry projects such as birdhouses, feeders, and window boxes

  • Container gardening

  • Dry and arrange flowers

  • Garden-related games, songs, and virtual field trips

  • Garden under artificial light

  • Identify fruits and vegetables

  • Make salads or creating recipes and cookbooks

  • Miniature and terrarium gardens

  • Nature crafts using pods, seeds, conifer cones, dried herbs ad flowers, etc.

  • Propagate plants

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Indoor growing

  • Lights: hang lights 2-3” above potting soil or plant starts

  •     set lights on a 12-hour timer

  •  Use fresh potting soil or sterile seed starting mix

  •  If seedlings become leggy, lights are not sufficient- start again

  •  Keep seeds moist until they sprout, then water daily; a tray under them keeps water constant and peat pots moist.

  • Projects: teacup succulent gardens

  • Plant cuttings from aloe vera, christmas cactus or jade plant in tea or coffee cups purchased from consignment stores

  • Sprouts— grow and eat sprouts like alfalfa, clover, radish, broccoli, or ming beans. Sprout lemon or orange seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat or oats.

Container Garden

  • Site location: sunny, out of wind, easy to access, water source nearby

  • Soil: potting soils specially formulated to promote drainage while holding water, organic if you can find it. Fill container with soil (do not add rocks). Fill to 2-4 inches from top rim.

  • Container: 12-24” tall and 12-24” diameter

    • ​plastic: inexpensive, lightweight, will fade and crack in sun

    • black plastic nursery pots: inexpensive/free, long lasting, warm up quickly

  •     terra cotta: expensive, heavy, crack and crumble if left outside in winter

  •     glazed-clay pots: expensive, heavy, long lasting

  •     half-whiskey barrels: recycled product, lasts for several seasons, large planting area

  •     your creative choice: large bright colored plastic tubs, wheelbarrows, 5 gallon buckets, kid wading pools, etc.

  • Plants/seeds: look for plants and seeds that say they are for containers or are smaller or can be trellised. Just about any plant can be grown in a container, but some do better based on size.

  • Feed: Liquid fish fertilizer per their instructions, worm tea, organic fertilizer mix. Look for 3-4-2 generally, and 5-1-1 for lettuce, onions, and other leafy greens. The # corresponds with Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium content.

  •     Nitrogen promotes green leafy growth

  •     phosphorous promotes roots, buds and flowers

  •     potassium promotes absorption of nutrients and trace minerals

 

Extend into the community 

  • 4-H Youth programs 

  • Community-wide projects 

  • Extension programs 

  • Farm to School Programs Volunteer, join others

  • Local garden clubs

  • Master gardeners

  • Parents/grandparents/extended family members 

  • Schools

  • Youth organizations

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