We deemed today gardening day. Well, more like planting lots of flowers and seeds in flower pots day. We got all of our materials out (all of which I got at either Target and Wal-Mart), got our "messy" clothes on, and planted away.
I had LOTS of leftover flower pots from our Mother's Day projects. A few of them were already colored (by my kids) and never got around to planting our seeds.
I had the kids use sandbox scoopers (much safer than the metal trowels we have).
In the two big pots the kids planted sunflower seeds. They're anxiously waiting for them to (hopefully) grow.
Each of the kids got to plant a flower in the pot of their choice. I was very proud of how well the kids listened to my directions. Since we were planting in the front yard, my biggest worry was a child darting away into the street. I told them that unless it was their turn to plant or we were planting the seeds or watering the flowers, they needed to stay sitting "flat butt" on the front porch. I was very proud (and a bit shocked, honestly!) that they listened to my directions exactly and behaved great considering planting took a good hour or our morning.
Each child got a turn to help me water the flowers. I handed the camera over to my oldest mini Max to take pictures......and all he got were my feet and every child's feet as they were watering! I suppose I should have been more specific on those directions!
Throughout the day, we read and spoke about how a plant grows and what the plants and flowers do for us. I also had them color pictures of what our flowers look like:
I told the kids that these were "daycare flowers" they planted which means they have to help me water them every day. The kids are anxiously waiting for the sunflowers to grow (they were very disappointed they didn't grow during naps) so they can "pick a sunflower bouquet." The kids have been very interested this spring about flowers, plants, how things grow, bugs, and life cycles. We've spent several days this spring growing flowers (once in a styrofoam cup and another for Mother's Day), watching bugs, and reading about plants. Gardening Day was another great way for them to expand their curious minds.