Gardening is a fun way to engage kids in hands-on learning and teach them important life skills. Gardening provides a comprehensive experience that fosters a love for nature, curiosity, and responsibility. Here are a few tips that can engage kids in gardening and make it an exciting, educational journey:
Plant Easy-to-Grow Plants: I'd recommend sunflowers, marigolds, or zinnias. They are vibrant and grow quickly. In the vegetable department, check out tomatoes, beans, carrots, or lettuce. These grow quickly, allowing kids to harvest them in a few weeks. Let kids participate by digging, planting, watering, and caring for the plants. A plus is that kids tend to be more interested in eating vegetables that they've planted.
Make it Fun and Creative: Have themed gardens. My kids loved fairy gardens with miniature decorations. Plant a pizza garden with tomatoes, basil and peppers. Create colorful plant markers to label the plants. Make a seed bomb by mixing clay, compost, and wildflower seeds into small balls which kids can leave in various areas of the garden. Let the rain wash the clay away and see the flowers grow and blossom!
Make it Educational: Explain how plants need sunlight, water, and soil to thrive. Introduce concepts like photosynthesis, pollination, and composting. Teach kids about insects like bees, butterflies, and ladybugs and how they help plants.
Gardening allows kids to learn how to care for plants and gives them a greater appreciation for the world around them.
Today's Insecure Writer's Support Group question of the month is, "What was the most inspiring feedback you've received from readers?" Well, I've gotten a lot of great reviews for my work. I appreciate every single one of them! But the biggest and most helpful feedback I got was from a publisher when I was submitting Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China. He said it was good, but that I should change the point of view to make it first person, alternating between the two protagonists. It was originally a third person point of view. I took his advice to heart and rewrote everything. It made it a lot better! Not long after that, it was published!
What about you? Any inspiring feedback from readers?
A couple more things before I go...
Happy Birthday to US! is on tour, and there's a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card (and signed copies of the book). If you'd like to enter, go here: https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/happy-birthday-to-us-by-sherry-ellis-awareness-tour/
And I just performed Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody arranged for Viola and Orchestra with the Gwinnett Symphony. If you'd like to see the performance, go here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoralI5HD6o
Lovely gardening tips! I've been enjoying seeing the lettuce and cukes start to sprout recently. Congrats on your new book! That feedback from that editor was golden. It's daunting, but it's amazing how a big rewrite can totally change your book.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I really enjoyed your performance!
DeleteThey should defo teach gardening from primary school and not just because the veggies and fruit are getting too expensive to buy.
ReplyDeleteGood thing you listened to that publisher's advice - now you have lots of Bubba and Squirt books!
ReplyDeleteHopefully the last of the frost was last weekend, and I can start getting my garden in this weekend! Gardening with children sounds like a rewarding way to spend some time. And good advice from your publisher.
ReplyDeleteDear Sherry, these are excellent tips to involve children in these activities.
ReplyDeleteI never got to do any sorts of gardening growing up---things that come with life in a 2 room apartment in the middle east. Definitely thinking about making my baby brother try these activities now!
ReplyDeleteMany primary schools have garden clubs or garden plots for the children. They are organised by volunteers, usually. It's a good way to fire interest in children.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up gardening was sort of a requirement--we needed those veggies if we wanted to eat. I wasn't wild about it, but it seeped into my blood--as an adult I always want someplace I can be growing a few edible plants.
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