Garden activities for kids, Mini Bloggers

Patch Kits in Action

Posted on by Erica
02
Feb

One of our most popular products are our Planet Eco Patch Kits

My grandchildren E,W and M tested out all three varieties, Vegie, Herb and Flower.

The Grandkids live in Far North Queensland and I live in Melbourne, so it was wonderful to share my gardening passion with them.

E, W and M all worked together to plant the seeds and write labels on the bamboo plants tags. When I visited them a few weeks after planting, the seeds had sprouted and were being watered at least once a day, probably more as I think each kid was watering them separately!

All of the seeds within the Planet Eco Patch Kits have been specifically chosen because they are easy to grow and quick to germinate.

When the seedlings were big enough, we planted them out into the garden. The kids were a little surprised that the cardboard pot was biodegradable and could be planted straight into the garden.

Throughout my visit to FNQ, the Grandkids asked about a million questions about seeds, plants and gardening. I think the Patch Kits sparked an interest! And they all thoroughly recommended our Patch Kits as being a great gift for kids.

Competitions and Grants, School garden, Uncategorized

250 Garden Grants up for Grabs

Posted on by Erica
02
Feb

Lower King Community Kindergarten WA
The Coles Junior Landcare Garden Grants program is offering funding of up to $1,000 to schools and youth groups to help create gardens in their grounds and communities.
Coles has sponsored the grants program since 2008, and has seen a broad range of projects come to fruition, including vegetable gardens, composting and worm farms, Indigenous bush tucker gardens and green walls. Continue reading →

Competitions and Grants

Can You Make a Perfect ‘Pitch’ of Green? Grants Now Open

Posted on by Erica
06
May

Junior Landcare grant
Turf Australia and Landcare Australia are searching for the best “pitch” for your patch – with the launch today of the Perfect Pitch of Green – a continuation of a grants program for schools and youth groups wanting to green up their sporting field or reinvigorate an outdoor learning area.
With 2014 being the year of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Junior Landcare and the peak body for turf growers have come up with a new take on the in-kind grants program for freshly grown grass.
This year, 10 lucky schools will be chosen to receive natural turf covering an area of up to 200 square metres – the equivalent to the goalmouth of a standard sporting field. The grass can be used to update sports areas, enhance outdoor learning areas, or create more spaces for playing.
Continue reading →

Competitions and Grants

Yates and Junior Landcare Winter Vegie Challenge

Posted on by Erica
03
Mar

Junior Landcare Winter Vegie Challenge
With school just back and many community groups having their first get-togethers for the year, young people will be reminded about the foods that thrive in winter, with the launch of the Yates Junior Landcare Challenge – Winter Vegie Growing Journey.
The Challenge, which opens for registrations on 3rd March 2014, is a new take on the annual campaign run by Yates and Landcare Australia, which since 2008 has been encouraging young people to learn about growing their own food through hands-on experience. This is the first time the focus has been on winter vegetables, with entrants asked to write about their experiences and engage online through photo and story submissions.
Continue reading →

Other, School garden

Our Top 5 Books about Gardening and Nature

Posted on by Erica
20
Dec

garden book library quote
There’s a Chinese proverb “A book is like a garden in your pocket!”, and second to seeing seeds grow, nothing inspires junior gardeners better than reading about it in books.
Here’s our top 5  pick of classic picture books about gardening and nature your kids will love reading: Continue reading →

Compost and worm farms, School garden

Canterbury Public School Students Get Their Hands Dirty

Posted on by Erica
31
Jul

Students taking part in the Nature's Recyclers worm farm workshop
Students at Canterbury Public School in NSW have formed a gardening club as part of a composting project funded by a Coles Junior Landcare Garden Grant.
The Canterbury Green Thumbs Gardening Club includes both students and parents, and gives students who are interested in gardening the opportunity to work in the garden out of school hours. Continue reading →

School garden

The Green Sustainability Project at Hillarys Early Childhood Learning Centre

Posted on by Erica
26
Jun

Hillarys Early Learning Centre garden
The children enjoyed planting and caring for their vegetables.

Every year since 2008 Coles and Junior Landcare have been providing grants to schools and youth groups to create gardens in their grounds or community.  The Hillarys Early Childhood Learning Centre, in Hillarys, Western Australia, received a $1100 grant in 2012 to develop an interactive sensory garden that involved not only the school and parent community but also members of the wider, local community. This is their story:
The Green Sustainability Project at Hillarys Early Childhood Learning Centre is a community project involving the staff from the school, the parent community and wider community (grandparents and interested members of the local community) which turned a very lifeless patch of unused ground attached to the Early Years Learning Centre into an interactive Sensory Garden. Continue reading →

Guest Posts

Guest Post: A Space to Have Fun, Learn and Grow – Creating the Perfect Garden for the Kids, Part 2

Posted on by Erica
13
Jun

Trampolines are popular in kids gardens
Here is part two in our series on designing the perfect kids garden written by professional garden designer Helen Spry from Ezyplant. Helen is a mother of two very active boys and has been a domestic garden designer for 10 years. In this post Helen looks at equipment that can be added to a kids garden to encourage imagination, play, relaxation and exercise.  To see part one where Helen discusses matters relating to productive gardens, turf and paths for kids click here.
Trampolines provide hours of fun and physical activity and are available in a range of sizes.  Apart from the physical benefits they can also be used for reading and doing homework.  A quiet outdoor classroom provides a wonderful space for learning and can be helpful for remembering spelling words or math sums.  Jumping on a trampoline or bouncing a ball while saying the word/sum out loud can make all the difference in retaining information for some children.  Give it a try!
Sandpits provide a creative space and will guarantee hours of play.  The bigger the better especially if you are catering for more than one child.  Essentially a 3m X 3m size pit will allow 2 children to play happily.  If your garden allows, consider a huge pile of dirt for hours of fun digging, making mud pies and creating cities with roads and houses.  Continue reading →

Guest Posts

Guest Post: A Space to Have Fun, Learn and Grow – Creating the Perfect Garden for the Kids, Part 1

Posted on by Erica
07
Jun

Helen Spry - domestic garden designer
Today’s first guest post, in a two-part series, is by domestic garden designer Helen Spry.  A mother of two very active boys, Helen has been a domestic garden designer for 10 years.  She operates a garden design consultancy business, Eco Garden Design Pty. Ltd., and an online garden planning website.  Greatly influenced by her great-grandfather and grandfather, who were both garden designers in their time, she has had the advantage of a lifetime of learning.  Her passion and immense interest in domestic design led her to establish Ezyplant.com.au, a D.I.Y. garden planning website for the home gardener.  
As parents we can struggle to balance our lives with the added pressure to keep a healthy balance in our children’s lives.  With technology so accessible, it can be an easy option at the end of a long day to give in to their requests.
Imagine coming home and having your children racing to get into the garden!  Here’s some important design elements you can incorporate into your garden to entice your children away from technology. Continue reading →

Garden activities for kids

Investigating and Playing with Autumn Leaves for Kids

Posted on by Erica
23
May

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 →