Each Spring we garden at my preschool and I am always trying to find ways to make it more independent for the children. This way, they feel more in-charge and I am able to feel less stress from eight kiddos all asking for help at the same time! This year I tried to find a way to teach the kids how to space out the plants, dig holes, and plant starts on their own. And it was a huge success!
Idea One: Make a Garden Grid
If you have the space to set up garden beds then this is an idea to try out! In the past, kids have planted the starts all in a huge bunch (without enough room to grow) unless I was personally helping each one of them dig their holes. This garden grid allowed me to teach the kids about spacing. We discussed that each square could hold one plant, but two plants was tooooo many. The kids could dig a hole and then come grab a start from me to plant! They could do this all on their own. Woo Hoo!
To Make:
I have three large garden beds in my yard, and I wanted to give each of them a square grid. The dimensions of a standard sheet of garden lattice from my home improvement store fit perfectly on top of my raised beds. But, most garden lattice has very small openings and I wanted a good sized square. I purchased two pieces of lattice and then used my hammer to pull some of the pieces of wood off. To make my squares: I leaned the lattice up against the side of my house for support, and then started in one corner. I worked diagonally across the lattice removing every other piece of wood until I made it across the whole thing. Then, I flipped it over and did the same on the other side. After removing every other piece from both sides I had large squares! I could then use the pieces I removed to make a third piece of lattice for my last planter box.
After I modeled planting a start in the middle of a square, my job was to hand out starts. The kids independently chose a square, dug a hole, and then came over to request a start of their choice :)
As an added bonus, these grids should keep the kitties away from your planter boxes. The neighborhood cats love to use these as a giant litter-box (yuck!) and this will keep them out of it.
Idea Two: Making Seed Containers
My preschoolers love planting seeds. Any kind of seed. But they love to choose what to plant, and to know which seeds are theirs. Last year I set up this activity out in our Explorer Club and the kids could use it all Spring independently.
You Will Need:
1. Bag or bucket of soil
2. Empty planting containers (I save mine each year from our starts)
3. Seeds
4. Containers with Lids
5. Hand shovels for the kids
2. Empty planting containers (I save mine each year from our starts)
3. Seeds
4. Containers with Lids
5. Hand shovels for the kids
I put our bucket of soil in our explorer club this year, and set a bin of empty planting containers on top of it. On our shelf we have a bucket of shovels, and a bucket of mini rakes. Kids can access this at all times outside :)
Sometimes we just set big bags of compost or soil out in the grass and kids don't need to worry about making a mess.
I like to cut the picture off the seed packet and glue it to the lids of our seed containers. This way the kids can pick out which seeds they want independently.
If your kids like to know which seeds are theirs, you can pre-make sticker labels with their name on it. Then they can stick those on their containers all on their own!