{"id":8123,"date":"2021-05-17T09:51:45","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T09:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/?p=8123"},"modified":"2023-02-23T12:27:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T12:27:39","slug":"national-childrens-gardening-week-six-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/national-childrens-gardening-week-six-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"National Children\u2019s Gardening Week – Six Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

National Children’s Gardening Week<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Did you know it’s National Children\u2019s Gardening Week<\/a> from 29th May to 6th June (which neatly coincides with half term)? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, neither did I until I received some growing and gardening ideas from our local garden centre Squires<\/a>. Here’s a little inspiration for your young gardeners… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quirky Planters <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Gardening\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can transform unwanted items such as old wellies, shoes, tins and bottles into quirky plant pots. They look great and are a brilliant way to recycle unwanted items. Check seed packs to see what flowers should be sown this month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sew some fruit, vegetable and salad seeds <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Gardening\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is one of our Summer Holiday Challenges<\/a>. Get some seeds that are suitable for sowing in the summer months and are easy to grow such as carrots, salad leaves, cucumbers, peas or pumpkins (which if sown May\/June will be ready for Halloween). Let the kids prepare the ground, sow them, label them and care for them. Then look forward to harvest time! I find children are usually more open to eating\/trying things they\u2019ve grown themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year we also planted some potatoes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gardening\"
Maria excited with her crop<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cress heads<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Gardening\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

An oldie, but a goodie. Remove the top of the eggs, leaving two-thirds intact. Wash the shells and carefully dry. Then decorate with felt tip pens. The usual is to draw a face to accompany the cress ‘hair’, but let imagination roam free! Next dampen some cotton wool balls in water and place one in each shell and then sprinkle some cress seeds on top. Put them in a sunny spot and in about 5-7 days it’ll be ready to harvest. Egg and cress sandwich anyone? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encouraging wildlife into your garden<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Gardening\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Plants provide food and shelter for wildlife. We’ve already scattered some wild flower seeds this year and did some Beebombs<\/a> last year, which attract butterflies, bees and other insects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flowering plants such as lavender, foxgloves and roses provide plenty of nectar. Birds love the humble daisy, and sunflowers are a big hit as we discovered last year (more about those below). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gardening\"
The parakeets went crazy for the seeds when the sunflowers were on the way out <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You could also add a Ladybird tower<\/a> to attract this cheerful spotty bug to your garden as well as the other beneficial insects, which keep pesky aphids and greenfly at bay. <\/p>\n\n\n