Activity: Dirt Made My Lunch

Recently when speaking with a first grade teacher who had started a classroom gardening project, she told that one of her inquisitive students asked, "Why can't we just plant pizza?"

While an amusing question, the teacher used this as a teaching moment using the following activity.

Materials:

• Pictures of food items.  (You will need pictures of each ingredient and the corresponding steps it takes as you trace it to the soil)
• Cheeseburger
• Bun: flour, wheat, soil
• Burger: beef, cow, grass, soil
• Cheese: milk, cow, grass, soil
• Pickle: vinegar, cucumber, cucumber plant, dill plant, soil
• Ketchup: tomato plant, soil
• Pizza
• Dough: flour, wheat, soil
• Cheese: milk, cow, grass, soil
• Tomato Sauce: tomato plant, soil
• Tape or magnets

Activity:

• Draw columns on the board and place each ingredient at the top (i.e. one column for bun, burger, cheese, pickle, and ketchup).
• Hand out the remaining pictures to the students.
• Taking one ingredient at a time, trace it back to the soil.  Have the student with the corresponding item place it in the correct column.
• For example: Cheese comes from milk, which comes from a cow, which eats grass, which comes from the soil
• Trace other foods to the soil!

The teacher I spoke with said that her students LOVED this activity! They wanted to trace all sorts of foods to the soil and their garden!

Activity: Seed Necklaces

This fun activity allows students to create seed necklaces.  Students can observe the growth of their seeds as they begin to sprout. 

Materials:

• Small re-sealable plastic bag (ex: small jewelry bag, found in craft stores)
• Yarn
• Cotton Balls
• Water in spray bottle.
• Spray bottle
• Seeds or Beans
• Scissors
• Single hole punch
• Permanent marker

Activity:

1. Punch a hole in the top of each plastic bag.
2. Using the permanent marker, write the student's name on the plastic bag.
3. Wet the cotton ball using the spray bottle.
4. Place the cotton ball in the plastic bag.
5. Place the seed/bean in the bag so that it is resting against the cotton ball.
6. String the yarn through the hole in the plastic bag to create a necklace.
7. Moisten the cotton ball as needed.  The seeds should begin to sprout within a week, depending on the type of seed used.

Create Your Own Raised Bed Garden

Learn how to create your own raised bed garden with these simple steps. 

A raised bed improves soil drainage, allowing for plant roots to breathe better.  The soil in a raised bed will also heat up faster in the spring, and the soil will not be compacted since you don't walk on your raised bed.

It's never to early to start planning your spring garden and getting everything ready!