Search

Kid-Friendly Activities for the School Break

Royal City Nursery-Ontario-Kid-Friendly Activities for the School Break-making seed balls
Tanya Olsen
Tanya Olsen

Owner of Royal City Nursery

All kids look forward to a break from school, but sometimes that can mean added work for busy parents, especially with cool weather keeping children inside! Fear not, however; we have tons of great ideas for kid-friendly garden activities to keep your little ones entertained, educated about the natural world, and excited for Spring!

Starting Seeds 3 Ways

Starting seeds is a great kid-friendly activity, and spring break is the perfect time of year to start your garden’s next round of seed-grown plants: it’s a win-win! Starting seeds at home is a fun family science experiment perfect for teaching your kids about the natural world while they’re cooped up indoors by snow and colder temperatures. Here are a few ways to introduce your kiddos to seed starting:

1. To demonstrate how seeds germinate, encourage your kids to scatter radish seeds on a damp paper towel in a warm area of your home. Have them spray the paper towel daily to ensure it stays moist, and soak in their delight when the little seeds send out radicles, the first growing part to emerge from a seed. You can then plant these sprouted radishes and watch them grow in your family garden, making it the perfect kids’ gardening activity!

2. For a closer look at germination and subsequent sprouting, grow seeds in a clear plastic cup, holding them in place with a few layers of paper towel. Secure your seeds of choice onto a damp paper towel and press the paper towel firmly into your paper cup, making sure the seed side is facing outwards. Keep the cup in a warm, bright area of your home and keep the paper towel damp. Eventually, you and your kids will be able to watch the radicles emerge and form roots and shoots!

3. Peas and sunflower seeds are excellent for teaching your children how to sow seeds. They’re large and easy to grab, making them perfect for introducing small children to gardening. Plant your peas and sunflowers in small pots and have your kids wait patiently for them to emerge. If you’ve done the first two activities before this one, they’ll have a better understanding of what’s happening under the soil while they wait! 

Making a Propagation Station

If you don’t have space for a veggie garden outside and aren’t interested in starting a patio garden, we’ve got the perfect solution! Many of the houseplants we carry here at Royal City Nursery are easy to propagate from cuttings. With your kids, snip a few vines or branches from your houseplants and place them in bottles or cups of water, ensuring that you’ve removed most of the leaves and that one or two bare leaf nodes are submerged. After a few days or weeks, your kids will watch in wonder as their cuttings begin putting out roots of their own, as if by magic! Soon, probably within a few months, they’ll be developed enough to plant in soil, making for another great kid-friendly project!

Royal City Nursery-Ontario-Kid-Friendly Activities for the School Break-onion growth

Learning About Ontario's Spring Bulbs

If you’re looking for more educational garden activities, onions are an excellent way to teach your kiddos about plant anatomy, especially if they’re old and starting to sprout! Cut the onion in half and show the kids all the parts, including the protective outer skins, all the different layers, and the stalks coming out of the middle of the bulb! With this new context, your kiddos will have a fresh new perspective on the snowdrops, crocus, tulips, and daffodils poking their heads out of the cold ground come spring and a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the natural world. 

Growing a Grass Monster

Alright, now this activity’s definitely more on the fun and silly side. All your kids will need is potting soil, cat grass seeds, and an old nylon sock! In a bowl or bucket, mix together your soil and seeds, making sure the soil is plenty moist. Once this concoction is complete, all your kids need to do is stuff their mixture into the sock, tie it closed, and wait! After only a few days, the grass will begin to sprout through the fibres of the sock, growing into a delightful “hair-growing” monster! Your kids will be so enthralled with this activity that soon, you’ll have a garden full of these hairy creatures!

Seed Bombs with Ontario Natives

Seed bombs are an awesome way to prepare for Spring, and making them is one of our favourite kid-friendly activities! Making DIY seed bombs gets your kids’ hands dirty, teaches them more about gardening, and provides local pollinators with much-needed shelter, making it a great learning exercise! You and your kids can always collect native seeds from around your property, or you can stop by our Garden Centre to hand-pick a few from our massive selection!

Royal City Nursery-Ontario-Kid-Friendly Activities for the School Break-seed and soil balls

Have your kids start by tossing seeds in with compost and clay powder or clay soil, if you have it. You’ll want to use about 1 cup of seeds, 5 cups of compost, and 2 cups of clay powder or soil. Then comes the fun part: pour in water while your kids mix everything with their hands until the concoction is sticking together tightly. Finally, roll the mixture into balls and leave them in a warm, sunny spot to dry out. Once your seed bombs are completely dry and the snow has melted, go outside and have a blast throwing your seed bombs around the garden, then wait until summer for your glorious blooms to emerge!

 

There is no shortage of wonderful kid-friendly garden activities you and your little ones can enjoy over the school break, even if the sun isn’t out and your garden still isn’t ready to be planted! Come on down to Royal City Nursery in Guelph, ON, today for supplies and more great ideas for kid-friendly garden activities.

 

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is empty
    X