Spring is slowly creeping in, with the small bursts of colour and brightness that we so need after a Winter. As soon as I sense spring is in the air, I head straight to the garden centre for inspiration. I love garden centres, and I am lucky enough to have a gorgeous little one almost opposite my street!!! My nearest shop, and certainly my most favourite local shop!!! Children love garden centres, even if the worry of loosing them in the rows of shrubs, or knocking over plant pots as you stumble through with a pushchair consumes you, for a child, a garden centre is such a world of wonder!!! It is the start of so much discussion and conversations and questions. Whether it’s colour, size, shapes or quantity, reading the labels of the various plants or working out how much each plant costs, its is without even meaning to be, a hub of holistic child education.
what you need…
- a selection of spring bulbs
- some soil
- moss
- small terracota flower pots/small jugs
- small glass vases or jars
- small watering can with water
what to do…
- depending on how you would like your spring bulb display to look depends on what you do here. If you are wanting to plant the bulbs up in soil, choose a small terracotta flower pot or something solid and fill with soil. Then make a small well with your fingers or a spoon and place the bulb into the soil and cover. Take some moss and spread gently over the top of the soil and press down.
- if you are wanting to display your bulbs in clear glass jars or small vases, wash off all the soil if need be from you bulb. Place as many as you feel you are able into the vase and fill, to the bottom of the bulb, with water.
into a little dream adventure…
- during this activity be sure to offer your child plenty of opportunity conversation and discussion – encourage a child’s curiosity by asking open ended questions
- if the bulbs are yet to flower maybe show your child some photographs of flowered bulbs
- naming the plants and talking about the colours – asking the child, if they recognise the colours? what shapes are the petals? can you see the roots of the bulb?
- print off a diagram of the various parts of a plant and match them to that of your flowering bulb – recognising the simple names of the plant such as root, bulb, stem, petal
- talking about what encourages a plant to grow? what do we need to do to keep these flowers healthy?
- maybe go for a nature walk and see how many spring flowers your child can see and recognise, (empasise how we must always seek permission before picking wild flowers) take photos of them and once home print them out, write the name of each flower on the back of the printed picture and laminate, then match the pictures you have taken to the bulbs you have planted
- which do they think is their favourite and why?
- planting a spring bulb would make a really sweet mothers day gift or a gift for anyone at this time of year
