If you can manage a tiny preform pond, the kids will really be thrilled.

Are you actually supposed to work in the garden or direct the kids. We have always been told we give advise and not labor. I have taught a number of worm composting classes to grade school kids - usually 3rd graders who seem most open to the subject. When I help them set it up I actually do work with them. But in all our other activities here in Napa we only give advise and keep our hands clean

Penny

Penny, this is very much hands on for me. No one else to do the work, unless i can round up volunteers. So i'm getting my hands dirty! but i like it that way.

Watergal, a pond would be delightful, but maybe too much work. The parents would also be concerned about a risk of west nile from mosquitoes i think. I am going to have a birdbath, though!

We did cylinder gardens. Cut the bottom out of the buckets, and cut the buckets in half, so that you get two gardens from one 5 gallon bucket. Planted a different vegetable in each one. Just be sure that you use untreated seeds if you are working with little kids, as they may put them in their mouths. yuk!

Theres also sensory gardens, and making the hardscapes, like stepping stones, birdhouses, feeder, etc. This is a full time job you are taking on, you do know that, don't you?

Is this a class project or an individual project. I agree with Penny, we were always encouraged to advise and help plan, but leave the labor to others. They seem to appreciate it more if they do the work themselves.

Janie

One suggestion, go to the butterfly forum. Tdogmom is a kindergarden teacher in LA area and has a butterfly garden for her kids and has them raise butterflies.

Penny

Just for thought:

I have helped in design/plan of several school gardens.

1. A pizza garden...do a round bed and divide like a pizza. Plant a different herb/tomato/pepper, etc. in each 'slice.' When ready to harvest, have a pizza party for the kids. They learn about gardening from many different aspects with this type garden.

2. A garden 'bed'...I have used a toddler bed frame, used 2 x 4 to frame in the bottom where the soil will stay in. Plant with annuals like a quilt. This is quick and the kids can see quick results. Make a sign to hang on the headboard "Make Your Dreams Come True" or something similar.

3. Butterfly garden -- Make the bed in the shape of a butterfly. Use different plants in each 'wing' that will attract butterflies. For the body, we use stepping stones. The kids get a kick out of walking through/on the butterfly.

4. Kids LOVE windowboxes if you classes are where you can do this. Each class has their own windowbox they are responsible for.

5. Another kid project that is fun is to make a teepee out of tall bamboo stakes. Plant a running bean that grows quickly a each stake. I usually use hyacinth bean...they are fast growers and pretty. The kids love to play in the bean teepee.

Good luck. Above all, HAVE FUN!!

Great suggestions, thanks! Wanda, your gardens sound delightful, i am definitely going to use some of those ideas! so true about the kids wanting to walk through the gardens. i've only just laid out the bricks outlining the beds in one garden, and some little girls came by to visit and the first thing they wanted to do was walk on the brick outline!

Good for you for getting kids involved in gardening!

The Master Gardeners in San Diego have published an excellent book on this topic - details are on their website.

For more inspiration, visit the website for the 4H Children's Garden at East Michigan State University. Jane Taylor, the woman responsible for getting the garden off the ground, is now a national consultant much in demand and a fabulous public speaker. She was a great help to Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, California, when they started designing their children's garden. Visit http://4hgarden.msu.edu/main.html.

The American Horticultural Society also has programs about children's gardening, and they run a conference about it every year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Master Gardeners of San Diego

also Felder Rushing has a book on children's gardens. Check out half.com

Penny

I was Committee Chair for a children's community garden for two years and we planted a Three Sister's garden. It was a big hit. We met at the garden once a week to weed, water and harvest what was in season. We also planted flowers for the children. Every week we had a craft for the children to make something using materials from the garden (not always possible so sometimes I improvised, but it was always garden related.)

Good luck with your project. It is very rewarding to work with children and teach them about growing things.

Magret

Here, in Coastal S. Carolina, our MG chapter (Grand Strand Master Gardener Assn.) is presently building a "Carolina Fence Garden" (see http://www.scwf.org/articles/index.php?view=43 for more info), in conjunction with a middle school.

The kids are doing ALL (well, almost all; we won't allow them to use "sharp tools", or to bust up the concrete left over from the school costruction, etc.) of the work, and did all of the design. The math classes did all of the calculations (area, amout of fencing to obtain, amount of concrete for the fence post holes, amount of mulch, etc.); the language arts classes "articulated" the project and are journaling the progress; the science classes studied the plants/soil/climate/ exposure; the visual arts classes did the artistic renderings, and so on. MGs did the "shopping" and material acquisition.

We started near the end of last school year with the "heavy lifting" (grading, tilling, mulching, fence building), and let it "rest" over the summer. This week, we restarted the project, (hurricane season is now over, here) with planting of shrubs, trees and flowers. All of the money for this project came from grants, with a few donations, including an irrigation system by a parent, and the tilling/grading by a MG with equipment.

MGs supervise and teach (we held an impromptu class on how to stake trees)and the kids do the work. Usually, there is 1 MG working with a group of 3 - 5 kids, in OJT: plant placement (why this plant should be here rather than there); digging holes for plants (proper dimensions and depth); mulching (amount and placement); backfilling, and watering-in.

These kids have been GREAT! Most are highly motivated, and when questioned, express high interest in this project. Yesterday, I worked with Aaron and Vanessa, resetting some fence posts (blown over by the last 'cane to go through here) and they got right in the mud and got the job done! The school administration is SUPERB and 100% with us; they have provided refreshments and lunches for the volunteers, and the teachers are right there with their students. Many kids & teachers bring cameras to photo the progress and kids at work.

We have another project in the planning stages - - a large butterfly garden in another area of the school grounds.

A successful project depends on ALL of these things, but mostly INTEREST, TIME, and ENERGY of ALL parties: kids, MGs, school administration, even parents.

For very inexpensive seed google America the Beautiful Foundation. They will send hundreds of packages of herbs, flowers and vegetable seeds for only $30. Also, Brooklyn Botanical Garden has a video on childrens gardens called Get Ready, Get Set, Grow. It is very inexpensive and well worth having. I have given these videos as gifts.
For your children's garden - Frame an area and fill it with sand. In the center place a shallow bowl of water and observe the tracks each morning. Do the same with a small container of birdseed in the center.
Obtain 3 old tires and let the children paint them in wild colors then stack them up, fill with loose soil and plant with potatoes. The children will love disassembling these tires when it is time to harvest the potatoes. Build a scaffold and plant a mixture of various gourd seed. A packet of mixed gourd seed can be obtained from renee@reneesgarden.com.
Let the children make a scarecrow for the garden.
Grow radish for instant gratification and salad tomatoes just for the novelty.