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Thursday, April 1, 2010

Plant a Seed

With the weather finally warming up around here we've been spending a lot of time outside. While I am working on a large vegetable garden I also wanted something small that Tobias could take part in. So we got some small planter boxes for flowers and put them on the porch.

Planting seeds is such a wonderful, simple activity for any age kid. The child gets their hands dirty (which coincidentally can help with building a strong immune system), gets some sun (gotta get that vitamin D), and learns about the world around them. You can take this activity as far as you'd like to take it, depending on your child's age and interest level. For a 4-5 year old you could even print some coloring pages about the life cycle of a plant and make a chart showing what plants need to grow. For a baby it's enough to get out in the sun and hear your voice as you explain what you're doing. A pre-toddler and toddler will mostly be interested in the physical activity of planting and will enjoy seeing the changes as the seeds sprout and come up through the soil.

Age Range: any age

Materials:
  • seeds
  • soil
  • pot
  • water
Activity:
  1. Allow your child to choose a type of flower/plant he'd like to grow.
  2. Pour soil into pot
  3. Have your child poke 3 holes into the soil
  4. Help your child drop a few seeds into the holes
  5. Water with watering can

(Our supplies)


(Tobias chose the orange flowers, but it was a close call between those and the pink ones)


(after we'd planted the seeds Tobias decided we needed to plant more so he started planting the entire packets, lol!)

2 comments:

  1. "after we'd planted the seeds Tobias decided we needed to plant more so he started planting the entire packets"
    I love this!! I think Caleb would do the exact same thing!
    You've convinced me to try planting a flower this spring... though I am worried that I'll manage to kill it before it blooms and Caleb won't get the concept of seeds :)

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  2. lol, don't worry Becca, we don't have green thumbs here either :) The best way to start if you truly struggle to keep plants alive is to start a bean in a plastic baggie with a damp paper towel. Once it sprouts plant it in a paper cup and keep it on the window sill and water a tiny amount each day. We can't do that because our cats eat indoor plants but so long as your animals aren't as crazy as ours you should be okay :)

    Or get a cactus, those don't even need much water, lol!

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