Growing Together: Open Forum

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

Hi Alissa-

I have just been thinking about this because we are in the midst of planting and only so many of the kids can plant at a time so I have to set up other activities to keep everyone busy while they take their turns.  Sometimes we have more complex stations, but this year we are limited with how many volunteers we can have, so I have had to scale back to things the kids can do on their own.  A couple of things we have ended up doing: 
- Seed dissection - I soak lima beans for a couple of hours and print off a few inside of  a seed diagrams and then let the kids dissect the seeds and look for the baby plant. It works well for about K-2nd grade
- Tomato Seed counting - I get an assortment of kind tomatoes in difference sizes and the kids measure the diameter and then count the seed inside and then we compare how many seeds were in different varieties (at our school, tomatoes are specifically a listed part of the 3rd grade curriculum --- but you could do this with other kinds of fruits too)
- A digging bed (in ground or raised bed or even a large container would work)--- if you have the space, kids love to just dig.  The first kids who planted were able to do this--- but as we ended up filling up more beds, we ran out of empty space.
-Scavenger Hunts-- I have seen all different kinds - they can have written words or pictures -- it can be specific items (bird, flower, tree) - or more sensory (find a leaf that smells good, find a leaf that is smooth) - generally I do not have them collect any items--- it is more of a seek and find scavenger hunt
- Lastly, I love having sidewalk chalk on hand - although it is hard this year because the kids have to have their own individual pieces to use- but having them draw a dream garden/flower/pollinator can be fun if you have a solid surface near by

------------------------------
Sarah Pounders
Senior Education Specialist
KidsGardening
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

I love that idea!  That has been a huge drawback in planting with a full class of kids.  Thank you.

------------------------------
Tarra Tilton
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:59
From: Sarah Pounders
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Alissa-

I have just been thinking about this because we are in the midst of planting and only so many of the kids can plant at a time so I have to set up other activities to keep everyone busy while they take their turns.  Sometimes we have more complex stations, but this year we are limited with how many volunteers we can have, so I have had to scale back to things the kids can do on their own.  A couple of things we have ended up doing: 
- Seed dissection - I soak lima beans for a couple of hours and print off a few inside of  a seed diagrams and then let the kids dissect the seeds and look for the baby plant. It works well for about K-2nd grade
- Tomato Seed counting - I get an assortment of kind tomatoes in difference sizes and the kids measure the diameter and then count the seed inside and then we compare how many seeds were in different varieties (at our school, tomatoes are specifically a listed part of the 3rd grade curriculum --- but you could do this with other kinds of fruits too)
- A digging bed (in ground or raised bed or even a large container would work)--- if you have the space, kids love to just dig.  The first kids who planted were able to do this--- but as we ended up filling up more beds, we ran out of empty space.
-Scavenger Hunts-- I have seen all different kinds - they can have written words or pictures -- it can be specific items (bird, flower, tree) - or more sensory (find a leaf that smells good, find a leaf that is smooth) - generally I do not have them collect any items--- it is more of a seek and find scavenger hunt
- Lastly, I love having sidewalk chalk on hand - although it is hard this year because the kids have to have their own individual pieces to use- but having them draw a dream garden/flower/pollinator can be fun if you have a solid surface near by

------------------------------
Sarah Pounders
Senior Education Specialist
KidsGardening

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

These ideas are great. I have a similar challenge with my gardening group this Spring as I need to have two simultaneous activities happening at once to keep the groups smaller. Because I have many pre-readers in my class, I've gone on Etsy and asked some people to design picture scavenger hunts for me and now I have a bird hunt, a pollinator hunt, a five senses hunt, and so on. I also made each gardener a gardening journal out of paper bags and they can spend time drawing what they see or coloring and pasting gardening images into their journals. It's a constant challenge to keep everyone engaged all at once! I'm so thankful for kidsgardening.org - I am constantly looking on the website for more ideas.

------------------------------
Laura Finn
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:59
From: Sarah Pounders
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Alissa-

I have just been thinking about this because we are in the midst of planting and only so many of the kids can plant at a time so I have to set up other activities to keep everyone busy while they take their turns.  Sometimes we have more complex stations, but this year we are limited with how many volunteers we can have, so I have had to scale back to things the kids can do on their own.  A couple of things we have ended up doing: 
- Seed dissection - I soak lima beans for a couple of hours and print off a few inside of  a seed diagrams and then let the kids dissect the seeds and look for the baby plant. It works well for about K-2nd grade
- Tomato Seed counting - I get an assortment of kind tomatoes in difference sizes and the kids measure the diameter and then count the seed inside and then we compare how many seeds were in different varieties (at our school, tomatoes are specifically a listed part of the 3rd grade curriculum --- but you could do this with other kinds of fruits too)
- A digging bed (in ground or raised bed or even a large container would work)--- if you have the space, kids love to just dig.  The first kids who planted were able to do this--- but as we ended up filling up more beds, we ran out of empty space.
-Scavenger Hunts-- I have seen all different kinds - they can have written words or pictures -- it can be specific items (bird, flower, tree) - or more sensory (find a leaf that smells good, find a leaf that is smooth) - generally I do not have them collect any items--- it is more of a seek and find scavenger hunt
- Lastly, I love having sidewalk chalk on hand - although it is hard this year because the kids have to have their own individual pieces to use- but having them draw a dream garden/flower/pollinator can be fun if you have a solid surface near by

------------------------------
Sarah Pounders
Senior Education Specialist
KidsGardening

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

I agree with the "Dig-It" area.  We have a special area where kids can just dig in the dirt and it is very popular.  We also have some large, commercially made cards that have the different parts of the plant on them (several types) and kids can design their own plant.  We use this activity indoors near where we have grow-shelves with our starter plants on them.  Another activity might be to have a tray of different types of seeds  with large, plastic tweezers and magnifiers for kids to sort, group and identify.  I have also saved sunflower heads and let kids pick the seeds out of them.  Isn't this a fun time of year?!?

------------------------------
Rochelle Koberoski
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 4/7/2021 11:30:00 AM
From: Rochelle Koberoski
Subject: RE: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

I agree with the "Dig-It" area.  We have a special area where kids can just dig in the dirt and it is very popular.  We also have some large, commercially made cards that have the different parts of the plant on them (several types) and kids can design their own plant.  We use this activity indoors near where we have grow-shelves with our starter plants on them.  Another activity might be to have a tray of different types of seeds  with large, plastic tweezers and magnifiers for kids to sort, group and identify.  I have also saved sunflower heads and let kids pick the seeds out of them.  Isn't this a fun time of year?!?

------------------------------
Rochelle Koberoski
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

Where did you purchase the commercial parts-of-plant flash cards?

------------------------------
Carol Brown
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-08-2021 11:23
From: Marcia Berger
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

I love the dig it area, you can hide fossils and geo things as well.

Original Message:
Sent: 4/7/2021 11:30:00 AM
From: Rochelle Koberoski
Subject: RE: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

I agree with the "Dig-It" area.  We have a special area where kids can just dig in the dirt and it is very popular.  We also have some large, commercially made cards that have the different parts of the plant on them (several types) and kids can design their own plant.  We use this activity indoors near where we have grow-shelves with our starter plants on them.  Another activity might be to have a tray of different types of seeds  with large, plastic tweezers and magnifiers for kids to sort, group and identify.  I have also saved sunflower heads and let kids pick the seeds out of them.  Isn't this a fun time of year?!?

------------------------------
Rochelle Koberoski

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

We have a accumulated a lot of seed packets and use them in place of flash cards.  Kids identify vegetables, flowers, etc.  They sort them, match them up, and also sort through them to decide what plant they will grow, and they also sort them by number of days to germinate, when to plant etc.    This also helps me to keep them organized.

------------------------------
Kimberly George
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-08-2021 11:23
From: Marcia Berger
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

I love the dig it area, you can hide fossils and geo things as well.

Original Message:
Sent: 4/7/2021 11:30:00 AM
From: Rochelle Koberoski
Subject: RE: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

I agree with the "Dig-It" area.  We have a special area where kids can just dig in the dirt and it is very popular.  We also have some large, commercially made cards that have the different parts of the plant on them (several types) and kids can design their own plant.  We use this activity indoors near where we have grow-shelves with our starter plants on them.  Another activity might be to have a tray of different types of seeds  with large, plastic tweezers and magnifiers for kids to sort, group and identify.  I have also saved sunflower heads and let kids pick the seeds out of them.  Isn't this a fun time of year?!?

------------------------------
Rochelle Koberoski

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 4/10/2021 2:24:00 PM
From: Kimberly George
Subject: RE: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

We have a accumulated a lot of seed packets and use them in place of flash cards.  Kids identify vegetables, flowers, etc.  They sort them, match them up, and also sort through them to decide what plant they will grow, and they also sort them by number of days to germinate, when to plant etc.    This also helps me to keep them organized.

------------------------------
Kimberly George
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-08-2021 11:23
From: Marcia Berger
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

I love the dig it area, you can hide fossils and geo things as well.

Original Message:
Sent: 4/7/2021 11:30:00 AM
From: Rochelle Koberoski
Subject: RE: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

I agree with the "Dig-It" area.  We have a special area where kids can just dig in the dirt and it is very popular.  We also have some large, commercially made cards that have the different parts of the plant on them (several types) and kids can design their own plant.  We use this activity indoors near where we have grow-shelves with our starter plants on them.  Another activity might be to have a tray of different types of seeds  with large, plastic tweezers and magnifiers for kids to sort, group and identify.  I have also saved sunflower heads and let kids pick the seeds out of them.  Isn't this a fun time of year?!?

------------------------------
Rochelle Koberoski

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

All of these are so great! Thanks for sharing everyone! I had great success last week including different options, such as garden scavenger hunts, coloring pages, and weeding races.

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

One of my favorite centers or back pocket type activity is a nature building station.  I have collected sticks of all size and cut some thicker branches into "blocks" as well as collected pine cones, rocks, and basically anything interesting I could find.  I usually include some twine or raffia and the students can just build with natural objects.  I also like having them make nature mandalas with dried beans, lentils, rice, popcorn and any other small natural objects, they can usually supplement with what they find in the garden as well.

------------------------------
Amy Bowman (she/her/hers)
STEM Education Extension Associate
Plants for Human Health Institute
Kannapolis, NC

asbowman@ncsu.edu
https://stem.plantsforhumanhealth.ncsu.edu/
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 4/13/2021 11:44:00 AM
From: Amy Bowman
Subject: RE: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

One of my favorite centers or back pocket type activity is a nature building station.  I have collected sticks of all size and cut some thicker branches into "blocks" as well as collected pine cones, rocks, and basically anything interesting I could find.  I usually include some twine or raffia and the students can just build with natural objects.  I also like having them make nature mandalas with dried beans, lentils, rice, popcorn and any other small natural objects, they can usually supplement with what they find in the garden as well.

------------------------------
Amy Bowman (she/her/hers)
STEM Education Extension Associate
Plants for Human Health Institute
Kannapolis, NC

asbowman@ncsu.edu
https://stem.plantsforhumanhealth.ncsu.edu/
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2021 09:00
From: Alissa Haskins
Subject: Back-Pocket Garden Activities

Hi Everyone! 

Super excited to engage with y'all. I was hoping we could share some of our favorite back-pocket garden activities. I'm having a lot more garden lessons with my kiddos now that it's Spring and would love any fun add-ons I can use. Oftentimes the act of prepping the bed and putting seeds in doesn't take long and there is extra time that I would love to offer supplementary options for. Any favorite garden lessons the kids love would be lovely as well. 

Thanks for sharing!!

------------------------------
Alissa Haskins
------------------------------