This post is sponsored by Toyota for National Tree Day.

Five years ago, the closest I got to this thing called “gardening” was watching it on TV. Somehow, somewhere along the way, after having kids, I became a gardening convert. I’ve got loads to learn still, but I really can say, I love gardening and wish I had more time for it. Why am I a gardening convert? Put simply – everyone should garden because having plants around you is good for you.

Toyota understands this and have partnered with Planet Ark to help individuals, families and schools reconnect with nature by getting out into nature and having fun in their local environment.

Planet Ark’s Valuing Trees: What is Nature Worth? report focuses on the value of nature. It explores the financial, environmental, social, and health and wellbeing benefits of having trees, plants and other natural elements in the workplace, at home, in the community and at school. It found that “…having plants in and around the workplace and classroom helps reduce sick leave and stress; boosts productivity and creativity; and filters and cleans the air.”

Getting children involved in gardening not only provides plants around them, which is good for their health, it also gives children an important opportunity to learn through active participation and experience. Gardening allows children to investigate, experiment, manipulate, contemplate, problem solve and succeed.

Children love to grow things.

Just a year ago, I started gardening with my children. Since then, we have:

• Laid new lawn in our garden;
• Planted beautiful trees along our back fence;
• Had a surprise guest at our front door;
• Planted some snow peas and watched them grow;
• Harvested some snow peas and  planted a herb greenhouse and watch it grow;
• Bought new gardening supplies for our mini urban container veggie garden;
• Put the kids to work, gardening since they decided to give up on their afternoon naps;
• Planted sunflowers, dwarf sunflowers, carrots and corn.

Gardening with kids is a hands-on way to promote environmental and sustainability learning and connect children with healthy food and lifestyles. As my children have gardened, I have seen them adopt caring attitudes and values and demonstrate and apply a range of skills. 

Every child can garden. Here are 25 ways to get kids gardening:

Prepare a Garden Bed:

1. Mark out garden beds – Using pegs and string to mark out your garden bed.
2. Clear the surface – Where possible pull weeds by hand.
3. Loosen the soil surface – Break up the topsoil (about 20cms) to help aerate it.
4. Add organic matter – Add compost or manure thickly over the surface. Five to 10cms is really good covering.
5. Mix the organic matter with the soil – Using a fork or spade, gently mix the organic matter with the loosened soil surface.
6. Leave the garden bed to settle – A great time to release some earthworms into the garden. Leave the garden to settle for at least two weeks.
7. While the garden bed is settling – grow your seedlings; place boarders around your garden beds; place straw on pathways to suppress weeds.
8. When your garden bed is ready for planting – remove any large weeds; rake the soil surface; measure out the areas where each plant will be planted and mark them with pegs and string. 

Direct Sowing Seeds:

1. Moisten soil – Soaking the soil two days before planting is most helpful for new seeds.
2. Mark out rows – Using any long narrow stick, lie it along the garden bed where you wish to plant the row. Press the stick gently into the soil to create furrows to plant the seeds.
3. Place seeds in the furrow –  If the seeds are very small or fine, you can first mix the seed into a handful of sand and spread the seed/sand mix thinly along the furrow.
4. Cover the seed – Make sure the seed is buried to the right depth.
5. Water the seed – Use a fine mist spray.
6. Keep bed moist – During germination the soil should  not be allowed to dry out.
7. Thin out plants – Once the new plants have merged you may need to thin out the number of plants.

Transplant Seedlings:

1. Before planting – water the seedlings to be transplanted the day before planting. Make sure the soil in the garden bed is moist for planting.
2. Planting out – Mark where each seedling will be planted with a planting stick. Tip your punnet of seedlings upside down holding your hand over the top of the pun net to catch the seedlings. Gently tap the bottom of the punnet with your other hand until the seedlings and soil become loose from the punnet in one complete block. Be careful not to damage the fragile roots of the seedlings. Don’t plant too deeply.
3. Water the seedlings immediately. Don’t let the soil dry out.
4. Lay some organic mulch around the seedlings as soon as they are planted to keep the soil moist.

Container Gardens:

Growing plants in pots has been my favourite way to garden with my kids. It’s easier to weed, they are movable and because we can use quality potting mix, we aren’t limited to growing only those plants that will thrive in our (poor) garden soil.

There are many different types of pots for growing plants:

1. Hanging baskets
2. Terracotta pots
3. Planter boxes
4. Fabric bags
5. Wall pouches
6. Recycled materials – like old tyres, or eggshells.

Toyota and Planet Ark, have created wonderful resources and initiatives for individuals, families and schools to reconnect with nature.

 

Each year, around 2500 preschools, kindies, primary and high schools across Australia take part in Toyota and Planet Ark’s Schools Tree Day. Kids learn how to plant and care for the seedlings they grow. Check out the National Tree Day website for more fun ideas to get kids gardening throughout the year. Mums and Dads, you’ll find everything you need there to bring Tree Day home. Teachers, there are great lesson plans, learning resources and activity guides to connect kids with nature.

 

I saw National Tree Day in action at a school this year and was absolutely blown away by how much the children benefited from the event. They saw adults who were passionate about the environment and they had the opportunity to get outside and garden.

 

Schools Tree Day is on the last Friday of July each year, although events can be held at any time during the year. Each year, over 3000 people run Tree Day plantings as part of a nationwide project to help send a message that the environment matters. Toyota in partnership with Planet Ark offers planting resources and support to site co-ordinators. Schools can also post requests for assistance with labour and tools. 

 

This year, my children’s school was fortunate to receive support for Schools Tree Day from their local Toyota dealership with a donation of $200 towards purchase of plants. Some Toyota personnel joined Year 2/3 on Schools Tree Day to assist with planting. It’s as easy as registering your school for Schools Tree Day via the National Tree Day website, and getting in touch with your local Toyota dealership.

 

(If you’re reading this post in an email, click here to see some really fun activities from 2014’s School’s Tree Day. Yep – that’s me, nodding my head like a silly woman on way too much caffeine lol).

 

I saw this fun activity during School’s Tree day and loved it! To get kids excited about gardening, they each brought a seedling home to plant in their own gardens. They planted some parsley in an ice-cream cone so that it could be transported home and planted straight into their garden; ice-cream cone and all. The ice-cream cone will simply break up after awhile once the seedling has been planted. So frugal, simple and fun!

 

 

The post Gardening: 25 Kids Activities by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

October is Doc-Tober for Disney Junior! Your preschooler can see Doc McStuffins and her toy friends in new episodes on the Disney Junior TV channel and enjoy brand new Doc games and activities on DisneyJunior.com.au.

“She never stops. She’s go, go, go from the moment she wakes up till she goes to bed. Even in her sleep, she talks.” A friend of mine, that I have not seen in months was sharing what life was like with her four year old daughter. Sure enough, we watch her daughter happily run and play in the playground. She wasn’t the only child running circles around the playground. Children can be wonderfully, sometimes challengingly physical. 

Kids will often run, dodge and jump when given the space and opportunity to. Encouraging regular physical activity is key to keeping kids healthy. To celebrate Doc-Tober, we’re learning to care for others and ourselves. To stay fit and healthy, here are my top 5 easy to play running games for large groups. 

Five Easy Running Games For Healthy Kids

You only need a large space and some very simple supplies, if any, for these easy running games. 

BULLRUSH
I remember the adrenaline pumping through my body whenever I played this as a child. I’m pretty sure my 6 year old twins love this game and will love it even more as they get bigger (and faster!). For this game, players stand side by side on one end of the play area. Choose one player to be IT, and stand in the middle of the play area. Whoever is IT shouts,  “BULLRUSH!”. On this signal, all players have to try and run to the opposite side of the play area without getting tagged by IT. Whoever gets tagged, joins the IT team to help catch other free players. Players can only run to the other side when the IT team shouts, “BULLRUSH!”. The game continues until only one player is left. That player becomes the new IT in the next game.

STUCK IN THE MUD
Set out a play area for this game. Select one player to be IT. Once play begins, IT has to tag other players. Once tagged, players are stuck in the mud. They have to stay where they are when they were tagged, with their legs apart. Players who aren’t stuck, can free people who are stuck in the mud, by crawling through their legs. Once players are freed, they can run around again. Depending on the number or children and the size of the play area, it may be more fun to have a few people to be IT.

STUCK IN THE MUD PARTNERS
All players have to find a partner. Choose one pair to be IT. The IT pair has to try and tag as many pairs as possible. A tagged pair stay where they are, face each other with arms raised to form an arch. You can only be freed when another pair runs through your arch.

TURTLE TAG
Choose one person to be IT. Play begins when IT yells, “GO!”. IT chases other players. When IT comes near, players can avoid being tagged by quickly lying on their backs with arms and legs raised in the air, like a turtle on its back. As soon as IT has gone by, they can keep running again. If you are tagged, you are the new IT.

BACK-TO-BACK TAG
This one is great for team building. On the signal “GO!”, IT chases the other players. Players are safe for five seconds only when they stand back-to-back, elbows linked, with another player. As soon as they feel safe, or their five seconds are up, separate and run in free space until IT comes near again. Then find a new partner and stand back-to-back. If you are tagged, you are the new IT. 

Running games like these are so simple and fun. Do you have a favourite running game for kids?

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October is Doc-Tober for Disney Junior! Your preschooler can see Doc McStuffins and her toy friends in new episodes on the Disney Junior TV channel and enjoy brand new Doc games and activities on DisneyJunior.com.au.

I knew absolutely nothing about soccer… then I became a mum. Our boys started playing soccer almost two years ago. Now, I understand just how fun playing soccer is. It’s a social, fun way to get kids moving about, to build up their fitness and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

I am a parent who has never played soccer before – and it was a bit overwhelming / intimidating to figure out. However, it is possible, and simple to just have some fun with a soccer ball in the backyard with your kids.

Five Soccer Activities For Healthy Kids

Here are some ball activities that are simple and fun; some ideas to get you playing soccer with your kids:

BUBBLES
Randomly place a few cones around your backyard. Each child needs a soccer ball. Dribble your ball (“bubble”) around the backyard. Use only the inside of your feet. Don’t let your bubble touch another bubble or cone; otherwise your bubble will pop. If your bubble pops, you have to do ten star jumps before rejoining the game.

TREASURE
You will need a few soccer balls (about 3 to each child) and a hoop for each child. Place the hoops randomly on the ground, with the soccer balls outside the hoops. On your signal, children have to collect treasure by dribbling the soccer balls into their hoops. Stealing balls from other people’s hoops is not allowed. The player with the most treasure wins.

PIN BALL SOCCER
To start the game, place a row of cones (bowling pins) across the middle of the backyard. Each child , stands at edges of the backyard, with the row of cones between them. Players should have about three balls each. The player that knocks down the most pins is the winner. When all the pins are knocked down, reset them and start again.

PIRATES
Choose someone to be a pirate. The pirate does not have a ball. Everyone else dribbles a ball around the backyard. Pirates try to tackle the ball away from the dribblers. If the pirate tackles the ball away from a player, that player becomes the new pirate.

ONE-ON-ONE SOCCER
Even in our postage stamp sized garden, we just simply play a game of one-on-one soccer. We place the ball in the middle of the backyard to start. The players then have to try and kick the ball to their goal area to score a point. We take turns, and tag-team to play each other.

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The Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Kids is the tablet that grows with your child. With intuitive Kids Mode, parental settings and a great selection of preloaded apps, it’s the unique tablet for kids that parents will love.

After the best apps for kids? Let me tell you firstly, my household is one that has a strong culture of video games. My husband is a gamer. I knew this while we were dating, I knew this before I got married, I knew this when I said my vows to him at the altar on our wedding day. Four kids later, he is still a gamer. It is who he is, and I love him.

I find gaming a polarising topic; you either love it or hate it. I have known and spoken to parents who have laid down strong boundaries regarding gaming. Eg limiting gaming time to 15 minutes a week, if any at all. I understand the feelings and rationale of people who belong to this side of the fence. (I’ve heard my own father’s laments about this over many, many years).

I, myself don’t play games. I find it way too stressful. I perpetually feel the need to restart the game after any little failure in the game, (a terrible habit from years of piano practicing and my control freak ugliness). However, after watching and hearing my husband and kids game, I have witnessed the rich narratives great games offer; the characters, developments and plots are honestly just utterly engaging.

It’s been awhile since I first watched this TED Talk by Ali Carr-Chellman about gaming to re-engage boys in learning. I find myself agreeing with her on so many points: they (boys) are playing video games and we need to meet them where they are; we need to put ourselves into boy culture and stop demeaning it.

I also agree with Ali’s call to design better games for learning. Most apps for kids are still basically fancy flashcards. I think there’s a place and time for these. What we’re all waiting for, are more apps for kids, that have depth and rich narrative.

What are your favourite apps to re-engage boys in learning?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

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