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Gardening Misc
Contact_FullName: Patti Contact_Email: tripleamum@hotmail.com Area: Gardening MIsc Idea: For our Gardening Unit I built an indoor "greenhouse" (big enough for the children to play inside) out of PVC pipe and clear plastic sheets. First I built the PVC square frame (5 ft square) and then hot glued on the clear plastic sides. I filled it with garden tools, hats, seeds, twine, garden photos, plastic flower pots, plant markers and other safe gardening related items. This was a big hit, the kids just loved their indoor greenhouse. Contact_FullName: Robyn Contact_FullName: Patti
2-5-01We planted a raised bed garden on our playground. We planted several varieties of flowers and 4 tomato plants. We put stepping stones through the garden and a cut log to sit on. This allowed the children to go in the garden at will and reduced destructive behavior. Also raising the beds makes it less likely to get trampled. It is important to give children a sense of ownership in their garden. We watered ( Styrofoam cups from the water fountain to keep them from flooding it) and cared ( weeding only with teacher supervision) for our garden all summer, several classes could help with this, and when our tomato plants were at their peak we made homemade tomato sauce for lasagna. We asked the parents to bring cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese and in return they got an aluminum foil pan of lasagna to eat at home. This was a great project. We are going to try to grow more veggies this year and start our own flowers. We are having each parent bring in a bag of topsoil, potting soil, peat moss etc. and will just dump in a pile to expand our garden. Check for plants that are poisonous. Tomato leaves are though not fatally, and we have only 3's, 4's, and fives on our playground. Be especially careful if little kids share your playground.
9-17-00Vegetable Unit: The following book are wonderful when teaching about vegetables. The Celery Stalks at Midnight by James Howe; A Garden Alphabet by Isabel Wilner; Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables by Lois Ehlert; Me and my Veggies by Isaac Whitlatch; Gregory, the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat; I can grow vegetables by David Magill. Go to your library and check them out, your students or children will love reading them.
6-5-00I am a licensed child care provider. This month the children in my family day care home will be doing a little gardening. We will begin with a herb garden. The children will plant various herbs in little Tupperware containers and place the lids on to trap the moisture. The containers are cheap and easy to transport to light. The children will love watching something they planted and cared for grow. They will also have fun giving it to mom as a gift and watching or helping her use it in their favorite recipes.
5-28-00Make your own story of "What Shall I Put in the Hole That I Dig?" On the chalkboard I draw a hole in the ground and ask the children," What shall I put in the hole that I dig?" I give them an example the first time (i.e. rock, ball, house, etc.) "If I put a rock in the hole, will it grow into a rock tree?" After a number of silly ideas, lead the children to things that actually grow on trees (nuts, apples, etc.)
5-25-00For our unit on vegetables, we filled our sensory table with potting soil. Then we added a variety of plastic vegetables, and gardening tools. The kids had a great time working in their vegetable garden!
4-30-00Pour a small bag of potting soil and a some plastic worms, used in fishing in your sensory table. Add child-size gardening tools. Very surprised kids!
4-18-00As part of our unit on plants, my class "adopts" a tree. This year, the kids choose a large Maple just outside our playground fence. We visit the tree daily, and have also made a large paper "model" of our tree on one classroom wall. Here are a few of the whole-language activities that we do to make our tree a part of our classroom: 1. Decide on a name for the tree. 2. Take paper and crayons outside to sketch the tree. 3. Hold hands and dance around "our" tree while singing "The Green Grass Grows All Around". 4. Use paper and peeled brown crayons to make bark rubbings of our tree. These can be taped to the paper tree inside. 5. Brainstorm a list of animals that might live in our tree. 6. Use a piece of yarn to measure the circumference of our tree. 7. Estimate the height of our tree. 8. Lie on our backs under the tree, and use our class camera to take pictures of the tree from this "worm's eye view". We'll frame these later. 9. Dictate and illustrate the tree's life story, beginning when it was a seed. 10. Put on blindfolds and use only our sense of touch to explore the roots and trunk of the tree. List as many descriptive words as we can to describe each part of the tree. 11. Collect and play with Maple seed "helicopters". Later, these can be planted in paper cups and taken home. 12. Check back on the tree as the seasons change, and take note of how the tree adapts.
Date: 4-10-00For our garden bulletin board we always add worms. Draw worms the thickness of your finger on brown construction paper make sure they are wiggly looking. My 3 yr olds then practice their cutting skills by cutting their own special worm out. Their is a great worm song called Walter the Waltzing Worm that we use to dance with our worms. Of course the children then name their worms as they place them on the grass that they also cut out (green construction paper) some are way underground and others peeking out alongside the flowers they made. Don't forget to add a sun made out of the children's hands, and butterflies and bugs all made by the children for their special garden. Have fun! I usually do this as a weekly theme but it can go on longer as the children add new things they want in their garden.
Date: 4-5-00When we are teaching about seeds and how they grow we read The Tiny Seed. Then the children pretend they are flower seeds that I have planted. I have to cover them with dirt, (Pretend of course), water them, let the sun shine on them for a while and then they start to sprout out of the ground by squatting then they grow bigger by standing then they bud by placing their hands together over their heads and then when I say they bloom their arms spread out and their faces glow. Then I have to pick such beautiful flowers and I use the clothes that they are wearing to describe what type of flower they are. I even have Pooh flowers and Dinosaur flowers. I put them bunched together for my bouquet and then I tell them that I forgot to water them. They wilt down to the floor and I look sad. Then we laugh and start all over again. My little guys love this. I work with children 3-5 years.
Date: 3-30-00One of the preschool teachers at our school brought in plastic flower pots (with Styrofoam) and some fake flowers and put them in her home center. She also added a watering can, some plastic garden tools, garden gloves and a couple of big floppy hats. They children love playing with this and enjoying arranging the flowers.
Date: 3-22-00Gardening Sensory Box- I use a plastic sweater box with a snap on lid for this activity. Place potting soil in the box along with a few small shovels, spoons, pots, fake flowers, and a small watering can (with no water in it). The children love planting the fake flowers and when we are done, we just put it all in the box and store it! Keep a towel nearby to wipe messy hands!
Date: 3-8-00When we are talking about flowers and how they grow, I have the children make a flower as big as they are!! First, I cut out a small to midsize yellow circle. Next I give the children multi-colored petals (made of construction paper) to glue on. They can draw a face on the front of the flower if they wish. Next, I make a stem for their flower using green construction paper, cut as long as they are tall. This makes a wonderful display for a bulletin board in spring!
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