It’s one thing to have kids help with gardening, but getting them to understand things a little bit deeper can be fun too!
(This lesson coincides with the grade 3 science curricular outcome PL3.1, but can be done with kids ages 2+)
Materials needed:
The Magic School Bus Gets Planted (season 3, episode 10. Netflix)
soil
pots
flowers/seeds
watering can small enough for little hands
gardening tools (there are great kids tools at Dollarama)
What to do:
Get kids thinking. Ask them what do plants need to grow? How do they grow? Have them make guesses -don’t tell them the answers.
Together, watch the Magic School Bus so kids understand how plants grow and make their own food. After the episode talk about what happened, have them tell you what they learned and see if they can recite the 3 things plants need (water, air, sunlight).
Get them excited about planting their own flowers/vegetables. Either have the materials ready or take them to the store so they can choose their own flowers (Rowyn loved picking her own flowers). I suggest having a mixture of seeds that you can watch grow from scratch and flowers that have already started so kids are excited to see their plant already growing.
Get planting. Have fun getting messy and making some mistakes! Allow kids to do as much as possible -even if it may be a little cringe worthy at times!
This is such a fun ongoing activity. Rowyn is always so excited to water her plants in the morning and see the butterflies they draw into our yard!
Happy Planting!