Children, Nature, Botany = it's our future
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| Edie Wogaman reads to her grandsons |
Gardening is a wonderful way to help children
appreciate and learn about the science in and of the world around them.
There are lots of easy to understand hands-on
activities from planting seeds to pulling weeds that introduce children to the
importance of what is going on with plants and nature.
Every child has access to nature even if it is only weeds
in sidewalks and the birds in nearby trees. Houseplants, flowers, as well as
fruits and vegetables at the grocery store can provide topics for conversation.
The library and the internet (especiallyYouTube.com)
are loaded with entertaining suggestions for botany lessons with children.
Schools, churches, and local public gardens offer gardening-with-children activities.
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| It's OK to touch frogs gently |
Pressing leaves in books, coloring and drawing
flowers, planting the seeds from grocery store food are all available as videos
on YouTube. “Sid the Seed, How Do Plants Grow?” and “What is Germination?” are
just a few of the dozens available.
Growing sprouts in the kitchen is another way to
show children how seeds become shoots and roots. Just go to the school pages at
http://sproutpeople.org/sprouts.html
for ideas.
A new book that is of interest for older children,
“Isabella’s Peppermint Flowers” was just published by United Plant Savers (www.floraforkids.org).
The author Susan Leopold wrote and printed the book with her own money in order
to raise money for the nonprofit www.unitedplantsavers.org.
The illustrations in the book, by Nicky Staunton, are will delight children of
all ages.
The peppermint flowers referred to in the title are
Claytonia, commonly known as Spring Beauty. They pop up everywhere in the
spring appearing to be white at first and the pink stripes showing only upon
closer examination.
United Plant Savers
conducts native plant habitat restoration.
Annual Membership $35 includes Journal of Medicinal Plants
Links to preservation organizations, videos, educational resources
at www.unitedplantsavers.org
Take apart grocery store fruits and vegetables to
use as botany lessons. Identify leaves, stems, roots and which parts can be
eaten. You can point out and talk about where the plant grows (above or under
the ground, which country, etc.) Look at the veins in the leaves the seeds
inside, etc.
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| Max and Robby discover turtles |
Stick with easy to grow
flowers and vegetables so the results are successful, showing them the process
of plant growth throughout. Any potato that has sprouted in your kitchen will
grow into a potato plant.
“The Book of Gardening
Projects for Kids: 101 ways to get kids outside, dirty and having fun” is loaded
with ideas. (Published 2012, Timber Press, $20 list and $14 online).
This book emphasizes
making gardening fun for children with a play-friendly garden. There are
hundreds of photos and illustrations, activity plans, and child-friendly recipes,
Turn into a Tourist is
one of the activities. Take children to a local community garden or farm to
look for plants they would like to grow at home. Take paper and pencil, a
camera and seed catalogues along. Make a picture book that can become a plan
for a bed or box to plant at home.
Or, make a simple soil
test. Put water and soil into a clear jar. Shake and let it rest a day. Observe
and talk about the layers of sand, clay, silt and water that result.
The future needs a new
generation of plant and nature lovers so share your enthusiasm.
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