How to Build a Lizard Lounge in Your Garden

lizard loungeDo your kids love seeing animals in the garden? Do you want to teach your kids about biodiversity?  Building a lizard lounge ticks both boxes and is a great way to increase biodiversity in your garden. They are easy to make, the kids can use their imagination and creative flair and best of all you will be providing a home for some of our most vulnerable creatures.
To make a lizard lounge in your garden you will need: Continue reading

Winter Boredom Busters – Five Fun Indoor Gardening Activities for Kids

Indoor gardening ideas for kids
Hands up if you find it difficult to keep the kids (and yourself) interested in gardening during the winter months? Don’t worry, you are certainly not alone. It is often cold, wet and windy during this time of year and who wants to spend time in the garden with the kids when the conditions are like this? It can be difficult to find activities to keep kids engaged and entertained when they are stuck inside and the weather is dismal so I have come up with five indoor  gardening ideas to help beat boredom and keep your children interested in gardening this winter. Continue reading

Investigating and Playing with Autumn Leaves for Kids

Collecting autumn leaves kidsAutumn leaves are not only beautiful and fun for kids, investigating and playing with them help develop skills in areas such as science, maths, communication, art and even music. Little Miss B and I spent this morning out in the garden collecting, playing, sorting, talking and creating with a pile of leaves we gathered. Here are five fun and educational activities you can do with your kids in the garden with autumn leaves this season. Continue reading

Guest Post: A Sweet Pea Tee Pee for Saint Patrick's Day

Narelle Debenham from Natured Kids
Narelle from Natured Kids explains how to build a sweet pea tee pee.
Today’s guest post is from Narelle Debenham, founder and director of Natured kids, a weekly outdoor playgroup for families and young children on the Mornington Peninsula. Narelle, registered teacher and mother of three boys, aims to have a positive impact on children’s lives, while deepening their connection with and understanding of our natural environment. For a free checklist of outdoor activities to inspire nature play with your children visit Natured Kids.
Sweet Pea Tee Pee - fun for kids
Build your own sweet pea tee pee with the kids this Saint Patrick's Day.
St. Patrick’s Day marks the time of year when sweet pea seeds like to be planted in our gardens. Forty children from the Natured Kids outdoor playgroup planted these sweet peas to make a living, scented, sweet pea tee pee to play in at the Groundswell Community Garden in Frankston.
To make your own tee pee with the kids in your garden you will need: Continue reading

Berry Picking for Kids

The Berry Patch in Turners Beach, Tasmania
Berries are great for kids. They love picking them from the garden and best of all they love eating them too! We have spent a fair amount of time this summer outside in various gardens and berry patches picking and gorging ourselves on fresh berries and Little Miss B has had a ball! Berry picking is a fun activity that our whole family enjoys – even Master D enjoys observing from the baby carrier. Continue reading

10 Ways to Engage Kids with Trees

National Tree Day 2012
National Tree Day is a great way to engage kids with trees
A recent study commissioned by Planet Ark confirmed there has been a dramatic shift in the amount of time kids spend outdoors compared to what their parents did as children. They are spending increasing amounts of time indoors in front of screens and this can have a negative impact on their health. Planting Trees: Just What the Doctor Ordered  states that spending time outside in nature is good not only for the body but the mind as well. It can help improve concentration, increase feelings of self-worth, reduce stress and increase critical thinking skills in children.
Exploring and investigating trees is a great way to encourage children to spend time outdoors and appreciate the world around them. Here are 10 ways to engage kids with trees:  Continue reading

Pet Rocks for Kids

kids love pet rocks for the garden
Pet rocks are great for kids to play with and look great as garden decorations
Kids and adults alike love pet rocks. They are quirky, can be kept indoors or out in the garden, and are super easy pets to care for. They are also the perfect activity for kids to undertake whilst the weather is too wet and/or chilly to be outside in the garden.
Late last year my mother passed on my childhood pet rocks around the same time that Kelly from Be a Fun Mum wrote a post about these funny little ‘creatures’. It was sign that I should introduce Little Miss B to the wonders of making her own. Of course life got busy and we spent most of our time outside in the garden however now the weather has cooled it is the perfect time to get out our art and craft supplies and be creative. Continue reading

Holiday Fun for Kids in the Garden – Part 2

Planting in the garden
More holiday gardening ideas for kids
Last week I posted seven easy ideas to get your kids outside and active in Holiday Fun for Kids in the Garden – Part 1. This week I’ve come up with seven more ideas to keep your little green thumbs busy. Continue reading

Holiday Fun for Kids in the Garden – Part 1

Summer gardening activities for children
Holidays gardening ideas for kids

Are you looking for some great gardening  and outdoor activities to do with the kids these school holidays? Here are seven ideas to get you started and stayed tuned, we will be posting more ideas in the coming days. Continue reading