Spring is coming! It comes a little earlier here in the Sunshine state so I may have gotten a little bit of a head start but since I am not much of gardener, I probably needed it.
My preschooler loves to play in dirt, look at flowers, and be outside.
She and I both love salad (I know–it makes me so proud) and lettuce grows quickly, which is great for keeping kids interested.
We used an empty egg carton.
I poked holes in the bottom so water could drain through, set the carton on the lid, and the kids filled it with soil. I winced when Pea liberally sprinkled seeds throughout the carton but she wanted to do it herself. She even reminds me to water her seedlings.
Last year, I learned the hard way that the Florida heat makes lettuce “bolt” which means that a seed stalk grows and the plant doesn’t taste good anymore.
This year, I decided to use our bay window area in the kitchen to grow the lettuce and some herbs to prevent that from happening. I plan to start lettuce seeds every couple of weeks so that we always have a “harvest.” (The seedlings will be transplanted into a pretty box when I pick and paint a box!) The lettuce grows in about 30-45 days but they start to sprout within days from planting.
Does your preschooler enjoy gardening? What are some easy things you and your kids grow together? Do you have an easy seed starting method?
It’s really nice to expose kids to gardening as early as preschool so that they will to value the importance of nature and the crops. 🙂
Love this idea for our lessons when warmer weather comes. Lettuce bolts around here, too, and we’ve never managed to stop it so we finally just stopped growing it in our garden.
Christa recently posted…Some Love for the Little Guy
We started some collard greens too but they take longer to germinate :/. I like that we see quick results with lettuce.