Gardening with children

This time I would like to do something slightly different . I would like to share with you a story from third grade . I had a wonderful teacher named , Mrs. Duss , who was a nature and animal lover . She taught us regular lessons  like math , history or language art . But the most memorable thing she taught us was to respect the world in which we are living . She told us (to my mom's disgust ;-) ) to pick up worms with a stick when they were on the sidewalks (after a rainy day) and put them back to the grass where it was safer for them to be . She also taught us how to grow things . I remember every student in the class had a small tiny square garden . But it was big enough for all of us to plant something . So we all planted something , took care of it and picked up the fruits or vegetables when it was ready . I personally had strawberries and radishes . And they tasted so gooooooooood ! It was such a valuable lesson that it stayed with me ever since . And even though I am far from being a green thumb , I enjoy experimenting planting flowers , or fruits and vegetables . Sometimes it works ...sometimes it doesn't . But the experience is definitively worth it . When my kid was small , even tough we were living in an apartment , I shared this experience with him . We planted flowers and tomatoes in pots on our balcony . The gardening experience was a success . The pride end excitement of a child when he/she realizes how a seed can grow , and how this plant can produce a vegetable he/she can pick up and eat ... is priceless !

This is why I chose gardening for this project . Just have your child plant a seed , water it , see how it grows and enjoy the beauty of it .

Grade level : Kindergarden and higher . Older kids will pay more attention and take a bigger part in taking care of the plants . But the smaller children will still enjoy this process .

Material needed : You will need :
                            * seeds from flowers ( like sunflowers )
                            * seeds from your favorite vegetables ( like tomatoes .You can buy the seeds or actually use the seeds from an actual tomato .)
                            * seeds for herbs (like parsley , dill , basil , cilantro ,etc)
                            * some planters or pots (ceramic or plastic)
                            * soil for vegetables and flowers
                            * a small shovel
                            * gardening gloves (optional)
                            * water
                            * watering can and/or spray bottle
                            * some acrylic paints
                            * paintbrushes
                            * chalks

Project : (1) Ask the child to decorate the pots and /or planters with acrylic paints . They can create their own designs or paint the entire thing black so it will look like a black board . You can also add a name on the planter if you have more than one child .

         















  (2) If the pot is painted black , you can write on it what you are planning to plant in it with a chalk .

              (3) Ask the child to add some soil in each pots you want to use .
              (4) Ask the child to dig a small whole and place a seed in it . Ask him/her to cover the seed back with some soil .

              (5) Then ask the child to water the soil using a spray bottle . Repeat the watering every day until the plant start growing and produce flowers or vegetables .
              (6) Enjoy your new garden ! You will be amazed ! Beside producing flowers and vegetables it will also attract some wonderful creatures like butterflies ,  pretty ladybugs , birds , curious squirrels...

 

 

Tips : If you are not an experience gardener (just like me !) , I may say this . A sunflower NEVER failed to grow , no matter what time of the year or season I planted it . (However I live in Southern California .) And no matter what kind of sunflower I planted , it ALWAYS worked ! And tomatoes were always a success as well . So if you are a beginner , and you are not sure what to plant , I will really advise you to choose sunflowers and tomatoes .
Also if things does not seem to work at first , keep trying ! Some things we tried to grow did not always grow . Some plant just simply never seemed to work for us . Maybe it's the location , maybe we're doing it wrong . Sometimes the squirrels destroyed our plants . Sometimes our dog ....But we never gave up ! We kept trying and we tried to fix the problems. (We stayed away from certain flowers , we put a small fence to prevent the dog for digging or eating our plants , and we sprayed some Cayenne Pepper in hope to try to discourage the squirrels .) So why don't you give it a try ?GOOD LUCK !
I will keep adding pictures as the plants are growing and blooming .

Our garden : This year we planted :

Some flowers :
 (1) Mammoth sunflowers (can grow up to 12 feet tall). We planted them directly in the soil .

  

We also have some Teddy bear sunflowers growing in our garden . A seed was accidentally mixed in the pack of mammoth sunflowers ...but it's growing :-) 

 

 (2) Some Oriental Lilies .(Those were bulbs , not seeds .) We planted five of them directly into the ground . Unfortunately the squirrels stole two of them :-(

 

 

(3) Some four o'clocks in a pot on the porch .

 

(4) Some Dahlias in a planter on the porch .

 

(5) Some pansies in a planter on the porch ....but this did not grow as well . We were never able to grow any the previous years ....but let's see if we can do it this year ....

 

Some vegetables :


We have a busy life and we planted our vegetables and herbs a little late this year . But still.,we certainly hope to be able to grow something ....


(6) Some Juliet Hybrid tomatoes (grape tomatoes)  in a pot .

(7) Some Cascabella peppers in a pot . Nothing yet .....It is something new for us . It is the very first year that we tried to plant some peppers . It is growing slowly...


(8) Some herbs:

                                                                Parsley :

 

Dill:    

 

Basil :

 

Cilantro :

Did you know that children are more likely to eat their vegetables if they grow their own ? Hmmm...that may be another reason for you and your to try to grow a garden !

Some fruits :
You may also want to try to grow some fruits like strawberries . It is supposed to be quite easy . I haven't tried it yet , but we did plant a mandarin tree in our yard last winter . And it is fun to watch it grow ...

   Hope your are having as much fun with your garden small or big :o)

                 

ACEO cards

Grade level : Any level between 1st grade and 5th grade .


Artist concept and skills : Create a series of ACEO cards .


Material needed : * white cardboard paper 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches
                            
                            * color pencils , sharpies or crayons .


                            * if you decide to make a series on animals  , have pictures of birds , cats , dogs , lions , etc available for your students to look at .


                            * you may want to show examples of ACEO cards .


Vocabulary : What is an ACEO card ? ACEO stands for art card editions and originals . It is also sometimes called ATC cards (Artist Trading Cards ) . It is a miniature work the size of a modern baseball card . It measures 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches . The ACEO movement started in Switzerland . Those cards can be produced in any media . From dry media (pencils , pens , markers , etc.) , wet media ( watercolors , acrylic paints , etc.) to paper media (collage , papercuts , etc.). Some cards are even made of metals or cloth . Those cards are trade and exchanged .
ACEO/ATC cards are usually created in a series of three or four cards representing a theme (like beach , animals , pets , birds , or landscape , etc)


Project : In this project ,each student will create a serie of ATC/ACEO cards . In this example below I chose the theme animals. 
              (1) Each students will be given 3 blank cards (measuring each 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches )
              (2) Each student will have to decide what animals they want to draw , and then draw ONE animal on each card , using either color pencils , sharpies or crayons.

              (3) On the back of each card the students should include the following information :
                               Title (A Lovely Owl)
                               Artist name : (AC)
                               Date (April 17 , 2012)
                               Number (1 of 1)
                               Signature (there should be a signature from the artist .)


Example of an animal series :
                               

Have fun !
A great variation of this lesson is the following . Have students draw their own self-portrait on a regular piece of paper . The teacher will then scan those portraits and print them the size of 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches . Print as many copies as you have students . At the end of the year party , give each student a pack of those self-portraits and have each student sign their own portrait . It will build great memories !

Christmas cookies ...Yummy !!!

I first would like to apologize for not posting anything since late September but I have been incredibly busy ! Thanks you for being so patient with me .

This month I chose to share some Christmas cookies . As a mom , I think this is a wonderful thing to do with your children during the holiday season . In fact in my family I made this a tradition since my son was a toddler ....and now that he is much bigger...he still looks forward to make Christmas cookies .....but ..shhhhhhhhhhhh ! Don't tell him I told you =)

Of course you can choose your favorite Christmas cookie recipe , this is one that I like and this is what you will need :

* 4 eggs
* 2 sticks of margarine + 1 tablespoon (or 17 tablespoons)
* 1 cup of sugar
* 3 cups of flour
* 1 teaspoon of baking powder
* a tiny little bit of salt
* 1/2 pack of vanilla sugar
* zest of 1/2 lemon
* 1-2 egg yolk to make the cookies golden

(1) Beat eggs, butter and sugar until you obtain a smooth texture .
(2) Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl . Sift .
(3) Make a whole in the middle of the dry ingredients (flour , baking powder and salt) . Add the liquid ingredients (eggs , butter and sugar mixture) inside the whole , as well as the vanilla sugar and the lemon zest . Mix with your fingers . ( Some kids will love this part ...some will hate it...) Knead it until it becomes smooth and not sticky .
(4) Let the cookie dough rest for at least half an hour in the refrigerator .
(5) Roll the dough and cut it with your child's favorite cookie cutters.
(6) Arrange the cookies on a cookie sheet and brush them with egg yolk .
(7) Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven until they become light yellow . It takes about 10 - 15 minutes in an oven at 350 F . (This should be a job for a grown up !)
(8) Let the cookies cool off .
(9) Mix some powder sugar with some lemon juice to make some icing (or use your own favorite icing .) Brush the cookies with the icing and add your favorite decoration before it dries !



Enjoy =o)