Building a Sensory Garden

Last year, when we went on vacation, we went to the MN Children's Museum.  I would totally recommend it as one of the most awesome places to take your children.  Or borrow someone else's children and take them.  It is so cool and so much fun to watch kiddos explore and learn in all the exhibits that they have set up there...  And it is a lot of fun to check out as an adult too, I won't lie.  I think I have almost as much fun as my munchkins do.  :)

One of the things that I really noticed the last time we were there was that they had planted a sensory garden in their rooftop exhibit.  I loved that it combined gardening, the outdoors, and a total sensory experience for children.  As they had planted herbs, the plants had strong, individual odors, different shapes and colors, different textures, and were safe to allow children to taste.

Little Man exploring the sensory garden at MN Children's Museum

So, this summer I stole borrowed the idea of a "Summer Bucket List" from a fellow mom/child care teacher/ blogger, and we came up with a great list of fun things to do this summer.  Since I love the idea of a sensory garden, we added that. 

To set it up, I picked up a huge clay pot from Menards about a week ago.  I also picked up a couple smaller ones for something else, and used one of those to make a small sensory garden for my nephew to take home.  It was great fun that he got to join us!

The kids and I took turns digging up some black dirt from a small hill that I have in my back yard and filled those pots up.  I should mention that I set the pots in the kids' Radio Flyer wagon, as I didn't want to be hauling full pots of dirt across the yard.  Did I mention that one of them was huge?  Even with some plastic bottles filling up about half the space in the bottom of the large pot (for extra drainage, and to lessen the weight in the pot in the event that I do have to move it more than a few inches), it was still pretty heavy.

On Saturday morning, my munchkin crew and I hit up the farmer's market for several varieties of herbs- basil, lemon mint, rosemary, and opal basil in two varieties.  Kinda basil heavy, but they all look and smell different, which was the point.  :)  And really, you can put what ever plants you want in these...  Though I would recommend plants that are child safe, as one sense that children love to explore is taste.  :)  After we had the pots filled, we took turns making holes in the dirt, and setting our 'baby plants' into their new homes.  The kiddos all had fun patting the dirt around the root balls.

After we had our plants in, we talked about how to touch the plants gently, how we could smell them and notice the differences, and that we could pick off little pieces of leaves to taste.  

None of the kids were overly impressed with the tastes of any of the plants available, but they sure had a lot of fun making these!

I love gardens for children, and am looking forward to seeing these give my loves some interest and learning through the summer.

Earth Day

I love Earth Day.  Not that I don't give thought to how the choices I make and encourage in my family and friends affect the planet every day, but I love that there is a day dedicated to thinking about how we affect this planet we live on.

Now, I am not insistent that each and every choice be the most green/least environmentally unfriendly choice available.  But I am glad that we do make the efforts that we do to use the resources we need with as little waste as we are able.

Some things we do:

1.  Composting...  I know it's not for everyone, and it took me a lot of thought to make the jump.  But now, it's almost without thought that compostables go into a bucket to be taken out to our compost barrel.  We are coming up on a nice batch of awesome compost to be tilled into the gardens to help our veggies grow.

2.  Gardening and farmer's markets.  This allows me to get as much produce as I can for my dollar, without having a lot of packaging to dispose of with it.  Sure, there is one farmer's market that I go to that will put bushels of beans or tomatoes into garbage bags for me to transport them home.. But I need garbage bags anyway, so they are reused for that.  Otherwise, they are sent for recycling.

3.  Recycling.  Helping keep recyclable trash out of landfills helps prevent piles of un-biodegradable trash from just sitting there, year after year.  It also helps me to not need to purchase or use so many garbage bags, because we are able to use a single sort recycling cart.

4.  Opting out of non-reusable trash where possible.  If I don't bring extra trash home, I don't have to recycle it or throw it away. Both of which save room for the things I do need to dispose of, and makes our overall use less.

5.  Getting the kids outside and using non-battery toys.  I love being outside with my children. I will admit that there are days where my idea of being outside with them is me sitting in a lawn chair watching them play,  but those days are balanced by the days that I go play with them in the sandbox or on the swings, or when we go for a walk or bike ride.  Many of the toys we have don't use batteries, and several of the ones that do do not have working batteries in them-  and my kids don't care!  It's great that they will still use the toy as if it has batteries, but use their own imaginations for what the toy is saying or doing.  :)  Not relying on battery operated (or plug-in) toys decreases our need to dispose of used batteries, or having to buy rechargeable.  I know that you may save with them in the long run, but I personally feel that rechargeable batteries need some tweaking and improvement before I really want to invest in them for the battery operated toys we keep working.

Getting outside and getting your hands dirty with caring for the Earth is a great way to teach children about so many things.  Picking up trash along the road on your block invites the opportunity to talk about littering and the whys (besides the legal fine you could get) on properly disposing of your trash.  Planting a tree can be a way to teach children about growing things, and the cycle of reliance between living things and plants (like the birds who will use the tree to support their nests, and the fruit or nuts you may be able to harvest).  Planting a garden teaches children to appreciate where their food comes from, and allows them a part in getting it from seed to table.

Teaching children about reducing the waste they accumulate and reusing where they are able allows them to learn about really seeing what they have, as well as possibly encouraging them to share what they may not use with someone who has less.

Earth Day- and EVERY day- is a great opportunity to teach your child about caring for our environment, which in turn teaches them about caring for each other.  There really is no learning about one without seeing the other in action.

Make every day Earth Day.  Make every day count.

You are What You Eat...

I am so loving that the temperatures are now climbing enough to melt some of this snow that we have stashed... everywhere around here.  It gives me more hope that spring is right around the corner, and we won't have to layer on boots and coats and hats and mittens every time we want to go outside for a while.

It also makes me think about gardening.  I have several tubs of plants started, and I can't wait to get them outside, in their summer homes so we can get the produce from them.  Gardening is one of my favorite things to do, and I am lucky enough that my kids also get enthusiastic about it... for now.  I plan to work hard so they keep that wonder and interest in plants and fresh food, but I guess we will see!  :)

One of the big reasons I love my garden is knowing where what we are eating comes from.  I never was one to really stress about organics and where our food came from, but since I have the space, I sure want to make use of it.  And after looking in to how to set up my gardens, I have learned that I should have more care about our food.

I grew up on garden food- I'm sure my mom knew much more than we thought about the pilfered veggies that we would use as groceries for our outdoor games.  But it was hard to resist the peas, beans, carrots, and tomatoes that were right there just begging to be picked and eaten.  When we were part of a community garden, Little Man had a hard time keeping his fingers out of my garden neighbor's cherry tomatoes...  It's a 'problem' I'm hoping to have one day.  :)  My kids are great veggie eaters, and I hope that they learn to appreciate garden fresh picks.

We also had farm raised meat a lot of the time, and knowing what wasn't in our meat was something that was mentioned frequently in our house.  Now, I am grateful for the opportunity to have meat from the farm to feed my family- because I know what isn't in it.  And the cost savings are definitely another big plus.

I stumbled across the blog 100 Days of Real Food, and began following her posts on Facebook.  She gives some interesting and doable suggestions for eating more intentionally and healthfully.  While I don't follow every suggestion, using some of the information and strategies provided have allowed me to make some better decisions for my family.  We are eating a lot more whole foods (like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and honey or syrup in place of white sugar) than we used to, and I am definitely putting more thought towards healthier options when I am planning and shopping.

Eating well doesn't have to be an all or nothing endeavor.  You don't have to garden big enough to provide all your own produce- I love the farmers market, and still shop the produce section at my local grocery store.  You don't have to raise your own meat, or even know someone who raises meat animals to get quality meats for your family.  Just being aware of what  you are making available and encouraging a taste for healthful choices sets your whole family on the right track.

Involve the family in making food decisions.  I make a two week menu, then shop for both weeks at once.  Each of the kids gets to pick one meal, and the husband picks a couple as well.  This way, there are a few meals that are family favorites, I pick some new stuff so there is variety and learning about new tastes, and everyone is happy.  Don't be scared to offer your children vegetarian or ethnic cuisine- they may surprise you... Little Man asked for Orange Chicken one week, and gyros have become a favorite of all of us.

Have fun with your food!  Don't stress if your child eats sweets on occasion, or has non-organic fruits and veggies- there are worse things!  And pizza definitely hits several of the food groups, so don't beat yourself up for serving it up.  My biggest lesson in becoming more aware of what we are eating was just that- to be more aware and encourage what I felt was right for my family.

Bon apatite!

Become the Science Kids!

I always took science classes for granted when I was in school myself, and didn't think about it much after I graduated.  It took having children myself, and working with all the wonderful children that I've been able to hang out with for the last several years to really understand the significance of encouraging science exploration for children.

Encouraging science exploration in children is a great way to spark their curiosity, and teach them about learning.  I know it may seem like a silly thing, to have to teach a child about learning.  But it is a process that needs practice for children to become proficient at.  And science is a great way to do so.  :)

Science can be as simple as exploration bottles.  I have several bottles at home for my kiddos, with rice and some small objects for them to find as they roll the bottles.  I took pictures of each of the objects before putting them in the bottles, and putting them on a sheet for them to use as an I  Spy for the bottles.  I make them for the children at work as well.   One has water and a cut up plastic bag that looks like an octopus, another has baby oil and ribbons and sequins in it, and another water with sand and sea shells.  The options are only limited by what you can fit into the bottle.  Pinterest has TONS of great ideas!  (Have I mentioned how much I like Pinterest?)

Plants are another great science tool.  Planting seeds in bags to stick in the window, in cups with children's faces taped to the outside, creating any type of garden that children are encouraged to explore and experience.  I love having my children around our garden. I have started my tomatoes, peppers, and several herbs in pots in the house, and I love watching my kids get excited about watching the plants sprout and grow.  Before we had our house, we joined a community garden so that the kids could have the experience of a garden (and me too!) when we just didn't have the space or ability to have a garden at home.

My kids love to use water to learn and explore.  Measuring, scooping, and pouring are great activities for children to learn.  You can also include snow and ice in water play.  Adding food coloring to spray bottles of water for children to 'paint' the snow.  Freezing small plastic toys in large blocks of ice, and letting children pour warm water on it to get the toys out.

One big thing all of these have in common is that they are activities that require hands on participation by the children.  All of them encourage the children to interact with the materials provided, to have power over what happens.  If you don't shake the sensory bottle, the materials inside just sit there.  They don't shift, move, or mix.   If you don't plant the seeds, they won't grow or develop produce that can be harvested and eaten.  If they don't touch the water, it will just sit there.  And evaporation takes too long for the quantity in a water table to be very interesting for children.  :)

Science is all around us.  Teaching children to notice and enjoy it encourages so many skills that will help them be as successful as possible as they grow.  It can be as simple as asking the right question in the moment or as complex as planning out a long term science project with your child.  The main thing is, again, to be involved yourself.  Anything you are interested in and doing is going to spark your child's interest.  They want to be just like you, to do what you do.  And when you are interested in what they are doing, it makes things so much cooler and more interesting to your child.

Some ideas:
Pinterest Science

Gardening

I found this picture on Facebook the other day, and decided it perfectly captures how I feel about gardening.  I love my gardens!  When we bought our house a couple years ago, there was one approximately 10' garden box out back, plus four flower beds.  I was in heaven!  Space to garden, and have flowers?  Nothing better.  

Now, I have three garden boxes, and still the four flower beds.  I love watching my kids in the garden.  They love to help pull weeds, and check on the plants, and pick the vegetables as they become ready.  And there is so much to be learned from 'playing' in the dirt.

I just ordered my seeds for this year (at least most of them, I might be picking up a few more), and I can't wait to get some seedlings started.  There is nothing like watching those little sprouts grow.  And it is such a great science project for the children, to plant seeds and watch them grow.  To be able to give them a part of growing the food we eat.  I remember when I was a kid, and we planted bean seeds in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel, so that we could watch the roots and sprout grow.  It was one of the coolest things ever, at the time.  And it's still pretty cool, to watch my children learn about it as well.

The other part of gardening with my children that I love is that they can engage their senses.  They can feel the coolness of the soil, the temperature and texture of the plants, the smoothness of a tomato or squash,  taste the produce fresh off the plant.  We took a day trip to a Children's Museum which had a sensory garden on the roof.  It was really fun for the kids to be able to touch and smell the plants. They used a lot of herbs there, but really any plant is going to give a great sensory experience. 

Edible gardens are another way to engage children in gardening and the world around them.  homegrown.org  has some great suggestions on plants to choose for an edible garden, along with the ways that they benefit children.  

 Gardens can be as simple as a couple pots or as elaborate as raised beds (which actually aren't too complicated), but are so great.  And if you just don't have the space at your home to dedicate to a garden, or if you live in a rental unit where a garden isn't allowed, check out community gardens in your area.  We did a community plot for a couple years before we were able to have our own garden at  home.  It was a great experience for myself and my children to see people working together on the gardens.  Even after we had our own beds at home, my children would ask when we were going back to the community garden. 

One other thing that I have begun looking into is Square Foot Gardening.  The basic premise of SFG is to take the sheer volume of space needed to grow a garden, and pare it down to just what is needed to grow the plants.  It takes out the aisles between the rows, and it veers away from the rows as well by planting more and shorter rows, closer together.  I would definitely recommend it as a go-to book for gardening.

Consider getting out there, and exploring the wonder of nature through gardening!  It is such a great way to spend time, and the rewards of fresh produce are too many to count!  (And watching your child pick the veggies that they get to eat for supper is awesome!)