Spring is here
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 2 » The goods » Spring is hereEncourage your kids to celebrate the new season with a few old-fashioned activities that never lost their appeal
I don’t want to sound too Walton’s Mountain, but spring can be a magical time for children. It’s a huge relief not having to wear so many layers and finally being able to go outside and stay outside, without the rain threatening every new game. There are new leaves on the trees, new flowers in the garden and the excitement of summer around the corner. Harness that enthusiasm by getting creative.
Dish gardens
Children love the intricacies involved in creating their own mini-gardens in a dish. There are several ways of doing this. Some people use sand, others use dirt so the kids can plant grass seed which will hold their interest for weeks.
You will need:
• A dish about 10cm in diameter. This can be anything from a pot plant holder to an old pet food plate. It needs to be shallow but wide
• Spoons (although most kids prefer to use their hands)
• Potting soil/dirt/sand
• Tiny branches (the more tree-like the better)
• Pebbles or small shells
• Jam lids or smaller bowls for ponds. A small mirror can look the part too
Optional: grass seed (a quick-growing variety if possible), beeswax, cardboard, thread and twigs for more intricate garden ornaments.
Lay small bowls of pebbles, branches and other decorative stuff on a table. Fill each dish three-quarters full with soil or sand. If you’re using grass seed, now is the time to put it in and cover with a top layer of dirt.
Moisten the soil/sand with a sprinkling of water, then let the children get to it. Place ponds and gravel where they wish, stick in trees, even model a wax animal or two.
When the garden is complete, water it, find a sunny spot to for it and wait for the grass to grow.
Pressed flower cards
Picking and pressing spring flowers is a great fun, just so long as you don’t strip the garden bare doing so. Grasses and weeds also look good, but remember to keep them thin as thick stems don’t dry well. You’ll need to start the pressing several weeks before making the cards.
You will need:
• A flower press or a thick book
(like a phonebook)
• Absorbent paper
• Cardboard
• Clear drying glue or a hot glue gun
• Crayons and coloured pencils
Put the flowers and other foliage into the flower press or between the pages of a book—lined on both sides with absorbent paper. Do this as soon as you can after picking. Take your time to arrange them so the petals are fanned out and the stems are straight. Do not overlap each item and leave several pages between pressings. Leave for several weeks until dry.
Cut the cardboard to whatever size you require for your cards. Carefully remove the dried flowers and get your children to arrange them on the front. Glue down each item by applying glue to the card and then pressing the flower onto it. Once dry, let the children decorate the rest of the card with crayons, pencils or whatever they want.
Wed October 01, 2008 @ 12:09 PM
