Garden projects great learning experiences for kids

NORTH COUNTY – Looking for fun, educational projects for kids to work on? Given the weather in Southern California, any season can provide time to “sow” a love of gardening into them by engaging them in some fun projects.

Build a living house or teepee

Help a construct a house or teepee by using stakes and twine.

To build the house, place four (6- to 8-foot’) stakes about 6 to 8 feet apart making a square; be sure they are sturdily set in the ground so that they won’t collapse when the future “walls” and “roof” are covering them.

On one side of the square, create your doorway by placing two stakes about 2 feet apart in the center. Secure the stakes with twine near the bottom, in the center and near the top by starting at one side of the doorway and going all the way around the “house” to the other side of the doorway, wrapping the twine several times around each stake as you go.

Prepare a planting bed all around the “foundation” of the house, incorporating a good quality planting mix into the soil.

Plant sunflower seeds or any fast growing, non-poisonous, or even edible vine in the bed area. These will grow up around the walls, making a living house. If you string some twine across the top of the structure, your vine will grow along the twine, forming a roof.

A teepee can be constructed using five (6- to 8-foot) poles that are tied together near one end, forming the teepee shape. Near the bottom of each pole, plant pole beans, preparing the soil as above. These will grow up and cover the teepee.

These structures make great shady “get-away” areas for kids to go to have a little private time to commune with nature!

Plant a garden in a bag

Many potting soils and some soil amendments can be used to plant right in the bag. This is a fun, easy and inexpensive project to instill the love of growing and harvesting home grown produce.

Purchase a bag of potting soil, cut off the top of the bag, and position it where it will get at least six hours of sun a day. Punch a few small holes in the bottom of the bag to provide drainage.

Let a child choose the vegetable of his or her choice.

Plant it in the bag.

The child can be responsible for the plant by checking it daily to be sure it is getting the right amount of water.

It is important to teach him or her about feeding the plant when needed and explain how every living thing (including plants) needs nutrients.

When it’s time for the harvest, plan on cooking a meal with the child using the vegetables he or she grew. This one easy project will provide many opportunities to share the love of gardening!

Collect seeds for future use

When flowering plants go to seed, show a child how to collect the seeds and explain how these seeds can be planted in the garden for next year’s flowers.

An art project can be created by helping a child make their own seed packages; allowing them to decorate each pack with the names and pictures of each plant. Next year, when its time to plant, they can use the seeds that they collected!

These easy and fun projects also have the added benefits of getting a child away from the television set and video games, getting them out in the fresh air and sunshine and giving them some much-needed exercise!

Provided by Grangetto’s Farm & Garden Supply, located in Fallbrook at 530 East Alvarado Street.