Preschool Gardening Activities

Posted by Carla Snuggs Apr 3, 2008

April is Garden Month according to the National Gardening Association. As we continue with spring themed activities and lesson plans, take the opportunity to celebrate garden month by adding fun garden themed activities and crafts to your daycare or preschool curriculum.

The most interactive way to observe garden month is by planting a small garden with children. The easiest plants for children to grow are sunflowers, lettuce, radishes, snow peas, cherry tomatoes, nasturiums, carrots, potatoes, bush beans, and pumpkins. These seeds are easy to grow and have a short growing season.

If you are not able to plant a garden, because of the weather or you don't have the space, try reading books about gardens, gardening or nature. I like The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow by Joanna Cole [Scholastic, 1995] It's an exciting adventure and in the process children learn about the growth of living things. And there is always one of my favorite classics The Little Red Hen which is about planting and harvesting wheat.

For language and alphabet lessons you can create or print out gardening themed coloring sheets such as "G is for garden", "L is for Leaf or Lilly" and "D is for Daisy".

You can also spend time talking about farmers and their role as a community helper.

As always, have fun and be creative!

Happy Garden Month!