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By Mom Unplugged, June 30, 2008 7:26 am

We have had a Wee Enchanted Garden kit in the closet for several years, but had not yet put it together. So that’s what we did this week for the Unplugged Project theme of garden.

The Wee Enchanted Garden is a mini fairy garden in a box. Since we love fairies, it was a fun project, but I think it would be even more fun and very easy to create your own fairy garden without a kit.

This is what came in the kit: a plastic plant saucer, paints in the three primary colors, a paint brush, soil (it feels like a very light seed mix), grass seed, assorted beans (to grow into the “trees”), stones, gravel, little plastic figures (a frog and a rat), some seashells, and a lovely little fairy house made of wood and bark!

First my two oldest children painted the saucer. Since the paints were just yellow, blue, and red, it was a good exercise in color mixing too.

My youngest happily painted with some water colors and, in typical 2 year-old fashion, refused all colors but blue:

Pita, our assistant:

After the paint dried, the real fun began: the planting and arranging.

The children wanted to add a few other treasures to the garden. They disappeared into their rooms and returned with a penny, a marble, and a plastic snake (to eat the fairies?).

One tip: be careful when you water. We used a watering can and flooded it a bit. There is no drainage and the seed soil is very light. Next time we will water by spraying with a spray bottle.

This would be a very easy project to replicate without the kit, although I think that lovely little house makes the kit really wonderful.

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Here’s one more garden project idea. This one is more ambitious, but very worthwhile!:

The Children’s Garden

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If you joined in this week for garden, then please leave your link in Mr. Linky and a comment so we can all find your project. If you didn’t join us, read about how to play and consider doing next week’s theme.

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Since we will be flying on a plane soon, the theme for next week’s Unplugged Project will be:

sky

Hope to see you next week!

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By Mom Unplugged, November 15, 2007 9:14 pm

I am grateful for this poor rose that hangs in there cheerfully despite the cold night time frosts.

This rose is my idol.

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By Mom Unplugged, October 15, 2007 12:01 am

I truly believe that the way to raise environmentally aware children is to instill a love and appreciation of nature at an early age.

Here are some ideas and resources to help parents encourage a love of nature in their children. Just one of these ideas alone may not make much of a difference, but a combination of several should begin to have an impact on the way children perceive the world we live in. I hope so anyhow! Please give some of these a try:

1) Get your kids outside! Go for a hike, or even a walk around the neighborhood. The National Wildlife Federation has a website for parents and kids called The Green Hour which is filled with ideas for what to do outside. Also check out Backyard Nature with Jim Conrad for 101 nature-oriented activities that change seasonally.

2) Have your kids plant a small garden. If you live in the city, have them plant a pot or two on the deck or even in a sunny window. Here are some of my tips for gardening with children: The Children’s Garden.

3) Subscribe to nature magazines for children such as Zoobooks (ages 4-12), Zootles (ages 2-5), National Geographic Kids (6-14), National Geographic Little Kids (ages 3-6), Ranger Rick (ages 7 and up), Your Big Backyard (ages 3-7) or for really little ones (ages 1-4) - try the National Wildlife Federation’s Wild Animal Baby. Not only do these magazines teach kids about nature, but they encourage reading too!

Note: Ranger Rick must have been around for eons, because even I remember getting it, and loving it, as a child.

4) Subscribe to a nature club such as the Arbor Day Foundation’s Nature Explore Club.

5) Put out a bird feeder, or better yet, a variety of bird feeders (hummingbird, thistle seed, suet feeders, platform feeders, peanuts in shells, as well as the traditional sunflower and millet varieties). Even in the city it should usually be possible to hang a small feeder outside a window. If you can put out a bird bath, especially a heated one for climates with cold winters, you will notice an even greater number of bird visitors.

6) Get a kit for raising butterflies, frogs, ladybugs, or hermit crabs for example.

Or how about an ant farm?

Or my personal favorite…sea monkeys!

7) Set an example. Whether we like it or not, kids model parents’ behaviors. Show your own interest in nature, and point out interesting animals, insects, plants etc. on a daily basis. To inspire yourself, I suggest reading Rachel Carson’s book The Sense of Wonder. Read my review of it here. Also, you can check out the adult resources here, at the Hooked on Nature website.

8) Come up with some nature-themed art projects for your children, or recycled art. Good resources for ideas are: Nature’s Art Box, Recycled Crafts Box, and Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children

If you are interested, I reviewed Earthways here.

9) Involve children in your recycling. Let them help sort. Take them with you when you drop it off. Older children might benefit from a book like Down-to-Earth Guide To Global Warming. Read my review here for more information.

10) Read nature-themed stories to your children. Here are some suggested reading lists by age from the Hooked on Nature website:

Ages 3-8
Ages 6-14

11) Set up a seasonal nature table in your home where children can display their outdoor finds. A fall table for example might have fall leaves, acorns, and pine cones, whereas a spring table might have spring flowers, feathers and grasses. Change the table seasonally and see what wonders your children come home with.

12) Start solstice celebrations in your home. Explain about the movement of the Earth, what causes the seasons, and what the solstice means. Last year we had our first annual solstice celebration on the winter solstice. We lit candles and had a special meal. The children gathered whatever they could find outside to create the centerpiece (pine branches, pine cones, rocks, and twigs). They still talk about that evening more than any other holiday celebration that we have had! I believe that being more aware of the natural rhythms of life, helps build an awareness of the importance of nature and the planet.

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I really wish I had begun this post three weeks ago instead of last night, because I know that there are many more great ideas for getting kids excited about nature and the environment. This will definitely have to be an ongoing project for me.

I hope you have enjoyed my ideas, and will find them useful. The main point is that children are the future of out planet. Get them outdoors and teach them just how wonderful our planet is…PLEASE!!!!

Comments (3)

By Mom Unplugged, September 21, 2007 6:46 pm

I have written several posts about how to certify your yard as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF):

Project: Make Your Yard a Certified Wildlife Habitat (July 5, 2007)

Backyard Wildlife Habitat: Great Nature Slideshow (July 14, 2007)

Another Backyard Wildlife Slideshow (July 20, 2007)

The other day I just got an NWF email saying that they have almost reached their goal of certifying 100,000 habitats. The NWF needs to certify only 5,000 more yards to get there!

If you have been thinking about doing it (or even if the whole concept is new to you), now is the time. You don’t have to have a grand estate. All you need are the four basic habitat elements: food, water, cover, and places to raise young.

Once you go through the easy online process to certify, you will be eligible to buy the cool sign like ours in the photo. That way, neighbors and passers-by will know that you care enough about wildlife to provide a sustainable habitat in your own yard. You’ll also help spread the word to others about the existence of this great program.

Having your kids help you certify your yard is a wonderful way to teach them about the needs of wildlife. Two Unplug Your Kids readers even created online nature slideshows of their habitats. You can view them by clicking these links: Meeyauw’s slide show and Tiffany’s slide show (Nature Mom). If you feel like making your own slideshow, please let me know and I would love to link to it.

So, click here to get started today!

Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, September 2, 2007 2:52 pm

A trumpet vine against a brilliant blue New Mexico sky.

(We are spending the holiday weekend at my husband’s house in Albuquerque.)

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This post is part of The Sunday Garden Tour at A Wrung Sponge.