I am not totally sure how we have already got to the Easter holidays and I am sure I am not the only parent that does not have a clear plan for the next two weeks (surely at least another parent out there is not prepared???).
I remember as a child looking forward to any school holiday period, not because I did not like school but because it meant that I had time to chill and get lost in my games. As a young child I would spend a lot of my holidays at my grandparents’ house which had a large garden. This meant that I could roam freely for hours, swing off trees, make strange concoctions and create imaginary worlds. My parents and grandparents did not spend endless hours playing or making things with me and yet somehow I feel the urge to fill my children’s holidays with activities and ‘development’ opportunities. Does the best approach lie somewhere in between?
During my current gardening journey with my little girls I am noticing that planning a specific activity is futile unless they want do it. So having a few simple and fun things to do in the garden during the holiday period and letting them choose which to do and when to do them could be a successful strategy. So my list for the next two weeks is:
- Draw/paint a flower - It should be done by observing a real flower outdoors (or indoors if weather is dreadful!). For my little one it is a great opportunity to look at colours and shapes while for the older one it could be more about the detail of the flower and understanding the different parts that make up a flower. It has been a while since I last studied the structure of a flower so I will use this simple RHS resource to help me out https://schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/Resources/Info-Sheet/Flower-structure-diagram.
- Plant something – We still have a lot of things to seed and plant for our flower beds and veggie patch: cosmos, potatoes (chitted ones were supposed to go in the soil last week apparently!), sunflowers and strawberries to mention a few. I will try new planting options (recycled plastic containers, paper pots etc.) to see if choosing, and potentially decorating their own containers might make it more fun.
- Dye Easter eggs with plants – As a kid I used to love painting/decorating Easter eggs and using plants to dye them could make it even more fun. It is not strictly gardening related but I suspect that the British weather might not be on our side so it is nice to have something up my sleeve for a rainy day. Again the RHS has a great resource that I will definitely use https://www.rhs.org.uk/education-learning/gardening-children-schools/family-activities/Activities/activities/easter-egg-dyes.
I will try to post photos and updates on how these activities go during the next couple of weeks…wish me good luck 😉.
Do you have any fun gardening-themed activities planned for the next two weeks? I would love to hear about them! And don’t forget to share your fun gardening adventures on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
