HANDS-ON FOR KIDS

Table of Contents:

"Using Your Imagination" Garden
Create Your Own Very Special, Personal Garden
Winter Garden Vision
Contact Dr. Norm

This garden is especially for kids who have great imaginations! To get started you will need a garden, or yard, or field or just a few plants growing somewhere (even your parent's garden will work!). The first thing you will have to do is to go out and look at the plants. Then. . . let your imagination go wild! Think of all the fun things you could create from the stuff that is in the garden. Here are just a few ideas:

• Put the flowers in ice cubes for your drinks
• Cut fruit in half to make stamps
• Use flowers and leaves to make a necklace
• Make leaf rubbings with crayons and chalk
• Make a headband with flowers and leaves
• Make something to eat
• Use leaves and flowers as special additions to your dinner plate
• Make water colors from flowers and fruit (crush the flower or fruit and add a little hot water). Try getting a green paint!
• Draw or take pictures of your wonderful creations
• Write about what you have done, create a story
• Come up with your own wonderful ideas!

Have lots of fun in your "Using Your Imagination" Garden!

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Kids — would you like a garden that is really you? A garden that will be different than everyone else’s? A garden that will fun and interesting? Well, here it is. Create a garden that is named after you!

There are two ways to do this. The first and simplest way is to design your garden so that the plants that are in it spell out your name, like this:

E V A N

To make it even more interesting, plant each letter of your name with a plant that starts with that letter. For EVAN that could be: Eustoma, Verbena, Alyssum and Nasturtium.

The second way to make this garden is a little bit sneakier. For this one, use plants that start with the letters of your name, but plant them in a regular shaped garden bed. The MIKE garden would have:

Next make labels to put on the plants. An easy way is to write the names on 3x5 note cards or make them using a computer. Once you have them written, laminate them (cover with plastic). Then the signs will last all summer in the rain and sun.

You can get started on your garden right away. Get some seed catalogs and find the plants that you want for your garden. Then help mom or dad order them. Next you can make the plant name signs for your garden. Have FUN!

Next summer, once your garden is planted and you put the name signs out, you can have even more fun. When someone visits, take them out to see your garden and see if they can figure out what the name of your garden is. I bet they won’t know. Then you can explain your special garden to them!

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Winter Garden Vision

Is this a new program on TV, a movie, a computer game or some kind of new 3-D glasses? Well, it could be none, some, or all of these things! It is your vision of what your garden was this past year and what it will be next year. It can be simple, but you will make it WAY COOL!

Here’s how it works. On a cold winter day, when you can’t go outside and don’t know what to do, create your own WINTER GARDEN VISION. Here are the materials you will need:

• Your memory and imagination
• Seed or garden catalogs that you can cut up
• Pencils, crayons, markers or paints
• Pictures of your garden

Remember this years’ garden: Make a bulletin board that shows your garden and what happened in it. Use pictures, drawings, painting and whatever else you can think of.

Create next years’ garden: Make a plan of your garden for next year. Cut and paste, draw, paint, or create it on your computer. Then put your creation up on a bulletin board or your wall to remind you of what is to come.

Plan a special event: Make plans to have a special event in your garden. This could be a Garden Day, a Birthday celebration, tea for friends or relatives, or a harvest party. Make plans for the event, select the date, make invitations and send them out.

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Contact Dr.Norm

Let me know what you do. Write or e-mail me about your WINTER GARDEN VISION.

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