Tag Archives: garden

On our way to Spring!

 

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The days are starting to grow longer and warmer and children are able to spend more time outdoors. Go out and help them discover the wonders of Spring.

Put some string or yarn outside. Watch to see if it gets carried away to become part of a bird’s nest.

Watch for sprouts of early bulbs and look for buds on trees and bushes that are starting to swell. Cut small branches and put them in a vase of water in the house. Watch as the flowers or leaves start to unfold.

If you live near a pond , look for frog eggs or go to a nature center that has a pond. You can bring some home by putting pond water and a small clump of frog eggs in a container. Take some weeds from the pond too. About a week after they hatch , feed them fish food. When their back legs have grown put them back in the pond.

Take advantage of the spring breeze and blow bubbles, fly a kite or make a homemade pinwheel:

Draw an X  on a square piece of paper from corner to corner. Cut halfway along each line and fold alternate corners into the center. Overlap the points and connect it to a stick with a pin. A bead behind the head of the pin may help it to spin better.

Collect early Spring flowers and press them between sheets of newspaper weighted down with heavy books for a week or two. Once dry, arrange them on paper and glue them down –make greeting cards, book marks, or a picture.

SAFETY TIPS:

Children are in danger of being hit by a car if they dart out into the street while playing. Children should be supervised at all time when playing, especially in public places.

Children of all ages like to climb. They fall off play equipment and bicycles, down stairs and off furniture. Lock doors to dangerous places such as basement stairs, use gates on stairways  and window guards above the first floor.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY SPRING!

GROW A PIZZA GARDEN AND BUILD A SCARECROW

Grow a pizza garden: Kids can grow the fresh ingredients for pizza sauce – a couple of tomato plants, one each of basil, rosemary and oregano, plus half a dozen onions (use onion sets, which are small onion bulbs) and one green and one red pepper plant. Buy plants in spring, but don’t transplant into garden until all danger of frost is past. Help kids prepare the soil. For fun, make the bed round or wedge shaped, and edge it with orange or yellow marigolds to resemble crust. At harvest time, buy plain pizza crust or pizza dough, and help kids cook up a sauce using garden fresh ingredients. Top the pizza crust with sauce, diced peppers and the usual pepperoni and cheese. How proud they will be to have grown their own pizza sauce!

Build a scarecrow: Collect adult-sized old clothing – an old plaid shirt, a vest or jacket, a pair of jeans, old gloves (for the hands), and boots or socks (for the feet). Use straw, leaves or rags as stuffing. For a frame, use two pieces of wood, one stake tall enough for the height of clothing with 1 ½ feet extra to pound into ground. Cut the shorter stake the length of the shirt with arms stretched out. Nail the boards in a cross-like form. Stuff pillowcase for the head first and tie up the round part with string, then pull the open-ended pillow fabric over the vertical stake and secure string. For facial features, kids can use waterproof markers, or help them sew on buttons for eyes and nose. Fasten a straw hat with safety pins. Put the shirt onto the frame, do up the buttons and add the stuffing, tying the shirt’s waist so stuffing stays in place. Pin or tie ends of pants and stuff. Use a belt through the loops to attach jeans to the stake and shirt. Use safety pins if necessary. Prop leg ends into boots or stuffed socks, and pin stuffed gloves to ends of the shirt arms. Presto, you have a fun scarecrow decoration for the kids’ garden.