We have been so lucky to have had glorious weather during the last few days and long may it continue. This week we celebrate National Gardening Week.
Hopefully, we can look at ways to stay positive, happy, and even spot the next Alan Titchmarsh or Charlie Dimmock!
Many of us will enjoy discovering their green fingers this week and we can all have a go at potting seeds or planting bulbs. The famous saying ‘you reap what you sow’ reminds me of life in general. In isolation many of us can become frustrated and have disagreements within our families. If you are angry and cross, you sometimes get it back.
Sow some kindness, you will reap it back.
Sow a smile, watch it grow.
Sow some care, you can never give enough…
You reap what you sow. If you work hard, you enjoy a lot of learning, so sow some hard work and reap the endless learning.
We enjoy the beauty of plants and flowers, but we do not see their bulbs or seeds. As people we are all like beautiful flowers. People only see what is on the outside and do not know what is in our hearts and minds. We need healthy hearts and minds on the inside to grow into beautiful people on the outside and do wonderful things.
Mrs Hart’s Top 8 Garden Greats!
Take a look at some of the craft ideas from these magnificent eight websites in today’s ‘Hello Monday assembly’ video. Thank you to you all for your wonderful, creative and inspirational ideas.
darrellwakelam.co.uk – An awesome site! I highly recommend Darrell Wakelam, what an exceptionally talented artist. He makes the most extraordinary models from sticking together bits of paper and cardboard! I spotted a ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ and a ‘Cardboard Flytrap’ in amongst his outstanding collection. These can be made from paper plates, egg boxes and toilet roll tubes. An excellent way to recycle and enjoy at the same time.
www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/gardening_with_children – Scent trails, building a wormery and even keeping a pet dandelion! Lots of fun and interesting learning.
www.thespruce.com – Easy activities such as grow your own celery, pot your own garlic and grow ornamental sweet potatoes. There are plenty of mini projects that involve small containers and can be done indoors, well worth a look.
woodlandtrust.org.uk – Messy mud kitchens to cook up a classic mud pie and happy nature faces! The ‘nature’ birthday cards are special and can be made and sent with love to people you miss. I loved the idea of the fairy doors. Children can make their own special garden fairy doors from lolly sticks and dot around the garden or house.
kidsgardening.org – One of the most simple and creative activities that many children will enjoy on this website, soil art! All ages can produce works of wonder. So many simple activities with clear instructions for the whole family to enjoy.
nationaltrust.org.uk – ‘50 Activities to do in your back garden’. Be a Queen and wear a ‘hand made’ wild crown or even a wild bracelet! Create ‘wild art’ displays with twigs and leaves. See if you can complete all 50 activities in isolation.
wonderadventures.co.uk – Fun and free garden adventures including painting stones and ice cube fun!
www.rhs.org.uk/education-learning – I loved the pressed flower picture frames, butterfly crop protector, scarecrows and simple animal leaf pictures. Really easy to find the materials and have a go!
Gardening week is all about getting outside, learning and having fun. You could always, however, extend the craft activities with some of the following as part of your homeschooling:
- Garden scavenger hunts. Many of the above sites include these but you could make up your own lists of objects, smells and textures. Be nature detectives and go on the hunt for particular coloured leaves, different shapes and sizes. Collect different numbers of leaves for counting/bar chart Maths activities. Measure the heights of different plants in the garden, taller and smaller challenges. If using the senses, be careful with taste and anything unknown, but this is a great one for learning about vegetables and herbs.
- Write instructions for the treasure hunt, giving directions on where to start and finish in the garden. Children can also design their own ‘Treasure hunt Garden maps’ using pictures and symbols for someone to follow. Record the directions onto a phone for someone to follow the clues.
- ‘2020 Garden Time capsules’ from the Isolation period! This would be fun and perhaps to dig up in years to come. You could include photos of families, empty toilet rolls, face masks, painted pebbles with NHS designs, zoom screenshots, newspaper stories and even a letter about what is happening in your house that day! In years to come, the Isolation Period could give Jurassic archaeological digs a run for their money! As a family, make a list of all the items everyone wants to include. Sow some family memories for you all to share.
- ‘Behind the Secret Garden Fairy Gate…’ Who lives behind the secret garden gate? Use the fairy gate craft idea as a stimulus to write stories and poems that you can share in isolation and look back on as happy family memories. The stories could be included into a nature garden craft book.
- Royal Garden tea party, dressed in your wild crowns and gowns! The role play is endless. Thorny crafty crowns or delicate daisy crowns, the choice is yours. Decorate your garden or house with all of the wonderful garden craft you have created this week and celebrate having this time together.
- Scarecrow characters. Make all sorts of characters from books you are reading or even people from your own family. Let the story writing in the garden commence!
- I am beautiful! Write a poem/song about what makes you or someone in your family beautiful inside. Think about the roots that cannot be seen and how our hearts and minds are not on show. If we feed them well, we can blossom into beautiful human beings on the inside and out. Healthy minds, bodies and hearts. Perform your song/poem at the Royal Garden tea party.
- Climate Change – Jolly Green Gardeners! I discovered the wonder of the tea bag this week. I found out that tea bags have nutrients that act as natural fertiliser for the soil. Your flowers and plants will blossom, so do not throw them away. The smell also apparently keeps vermin away and can be added to compost heaps. Tea bags retain water and keep the roots healthy and help potted seeds to grow. Children could design posters on reducing carbon footprint by growing our own fruit and veg such as strawberries or green beans. Design leaflets about why it is important to look after trees and plants. They are the natural habitats of wildlife such as bees, caterpillars, birds and butterflies.
- Super Scientists. Draw and label different parts of flowers and trees using magnifying glasses. Lead a lesson for your family and present your findings.
In our ‘Hello Monday’ assembly today we look at the simple daisy flower and how it teaches us resilience during isolation. We may sometimes get sad during the lockdown period but we learn to come back stronger, just like the daisy flower. We look at how you can bounce back, like a daisy does! Daisies are pretty flowers that make us smile. Daisies remind us that there is beauty all around us in our world, sometimes we just have to look a little more closely. It really is a wonderful world.
Mrs Hart, Adviser to Child of Wales.