Growing Together: Open Forum

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

Hi, Lara!  I've created some word search puzzles that we use (I've attached one).  We also have some pages for coloring.  One fun activity is to buy a bunch of vegetables and have the kids guess whether the item will float or sink--then drop it in the water!  This can be done by a show of hands, papers with float/sink on them, or whatever way suits your age group.  We've also created some bingo cards.  If nothing else, we take old seed catalogs and the kids can cut out pictures and make collages.  Happy indoor gardening!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

I thought I attached one, but I can't find it.  I'll try again.  I see now.  Forgot to hit upload.  Sorry.

Hi, Lara!  I've created some word search puzzles that we use (I've attached one).  We also have some pages for coloring.  One fun activity is to buy a bunch of vegetables and have the kids guess whether the item will float or sink--then drop it in the water!  This can be done by a show of hands, papers with float/sink on them, or whatever way suits your age group.  We've also created some bingo cards.  If nothing else, we take old seed catalogs and the kids can cut out pictures and make collages.  Happy indoor gardening!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

Love the ideas Tony and Kim shared! An extension of the vegetable float or sink activity, KidsGardening just created an acorn float or sink activity. If there are no oak trees near you, maybe there are other large seeds or other nature items that kids could experiment with. Also, we have an activity with ideas for using seed catalogs for crafting, garden planning, etc. Maybe you could put out an ask to parents and school staff to send in any unused seed catalogs so you can have a ready supply on hand?

The other activity I thought of is more involved and requires a little more planning, but if students are studying water/rain then you could set up this "catching water" experiment that shows how different soil matter and plants affect water retention and erosion. 

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

Love the ideas Tony and Kim shared! An extension of the vegetable float or sink activity, KidsGardening just created an acorn float or sink activity. If there are no oak trees near you, maybe there are other large seeds or other nature items that kids could experiment with. Also, we have an activity with ideas for using seed catalogs for crafting, garden planning, etc. Maybe you could put out an ask to parents and school staff to send in any unused seed catalogs so you can have a ready supply on hand?

The other activity I thought of is more involved and requires a little more planning, but if students are studying water/rain then you could set up this "catching water" experiment that shows how different soil matter and plants affect water retention and erosion. 

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

Have kids make seed tape! We used cheap toilet paper and made our own glue from flour & water. Kids had to read the seed packets to determine the spacing for seeds, then marked that on the TP before "gluing" their seeds on. They loved it & then we were able to plant quickly when the weather was cooperating more.  

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

Hi Sara,

Have you had good success/high yield on sprouting with this method?  I had tried it using glue (according to one activity source) but there didn't seem to be as many sprouts as if I'd dropped them in the soil directly.  I'd really like to try this.  I will try it at home with flour and water.  But would like to know how your's has gone as well.

Pam

Have kids make seed tape! We used cheap toilet paper and made our own glue from flour & water. Kids had to read the seed packets to determine the spacing for seeds, then marked that on the TP before "gluing" their seeds on. They loved it & then we were able to plant quickly when the weather was cooperating more.  

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

Hi Sara,

Have you had good success/high yield on sprouting with this method?  I had tried it using glue (according to one activity source) but there didn't seem to be as many sprouts as if I'd dropped them in the soil directly.  I'd really like to try this.  I will try it at home with flour and water.  But would like to know how your's has gone as well.

Pam

Have kids make seed tape! We used cheap toilet paper and made our own glue from flour & water. Kids had to read the seed packets to determine the spacing for seeds, then marked that on the TP before "gluing" their seeds on. They loved it & then we were able to plant quickly when the weather was cooperating more.  

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

Have kids make seed tape! We used cheap toilet paper and made our own glue from flour & water. Kids had to read the seed packets to determine the spacing for seeds, then marked that on the TP before "gluing" their seeds on. They loved it & then we were able to plant quickly when the weather was cooperating more.  

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

Pumpkin lesson - weight, count lines, describe, how many counting cubes high is it?, measure the circumference with a string (guess which string goes with which pumpkin,identify the parts, cut one open, give each group part and count the total seeds counting by 10s.

Vegetable prints

fall torn paper art

apples taste test - make a graph

create a farm to fork mural

create a seed mosaic

match seeds to the fruit

make rain sticks

make nature boxes

make garden journals

make a weather vane

take pictures or I have small stuffed animals and we sort them by - hibernate,migrate or adapt for the winter

learn how to read the back of a seed packet, plan your winter or spring garden

do a lesson on erosion using a lasagna size aluminum pan, soil and some grass

write a recipe for a forest

create a billboard to advertize a veggie or fruit

create a menu on a budget using grocery store ads

where a hamburger is from -how many people are involved in getting you a cheeseburger from farm to plate? (include cheese maker, vets, truck drivers, millers)

being a wise consumer - analyze restaurant ads, cereal ads or commercials - How are they getting you to buy their product? (using happy family, famous people, experts)

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!

It's our first rainy day in Dallas in a while and my normal gardening plans have been cancelled by rain. This is always a challenge and it usually leaves me scrambling. What do you do when rain cancels your plans at the last minute? What are your favorite indoor gardening lessons or activities? Thanks!