Kids Activities: Exploring the Garden Bed

When your skies look this beautiful, you better be outside if at all possible. Truly magnificent!

With our garden beds completely bare this time of year, they make for a fun source of play. We grab shovels, buckets, rakes, pretty much whatever we can find and go exploring. What better place to make those special family memories than in your own family garden? 

Working/playing in the garden offers a perfect opportunity for open communication, helps to build special bonds, teaches the children and parents about how their food grows, and facilitates a common goal.

Our girls love getting their little fingers down in the dirt. They got into them a little bit last year, but the wonder of it all didn't last very long for them. I can't believe how much they've grown. 

August 2011

The dirt wasn't as amazing to them as it is this year. Now, I have a hard time keeping them out of it. So we make plans for days to go get dirty, no matter the extent. Allowing them to get their hands dirty is the most engaging way to interact with the garden even when the plants are gone.

The girls enjoy digging in the dirt, but there are a few other things they also enjoy about being in the garden. Simple things while we're out there is what keeps them engaged. I'm not hounding them with information. We just have fun and enjoy spending time together... getting dirty.

They like to look for the bugs and worms/

They like to water the dirt and make muddles for me (that's mud puddles of course). 

We've planted some beans in the corners to see if they grow. 

They like to pour the dirt from one bucket to another or...

..

... all over themselves. 

I taught them how to pick the little weeds and oh, they get so excited when they do! I can't wait to have the vegetables tall and green so we can learn about the veggies that they eat. Hopefully it will motivate them to eat them more. 

The dogs even enjoy being out there with us.

This year, we'll be buying the girls a little garden bag with their own little garden tools. And we even have a little spot marked for their own little garden. A place where they'll be able to plant their own flowers and watch them grow. I got the idea from this pin a while back.

Source: theimaginationtree.com via Kristen on Pinterest

 I thought that it looked so fun and the hubby agreed. A space all to themselves to do and plant whatever they choose.

 Getting the girls outside and involved in the garden beds this year will give them a sense of responsibility. (sort of like feeding the dogs). It will give me another area to teach them about life, the environment, plants, and people. But, what I love most is that it gives us something fun to do as a family.