INDEPENDENCE AND THE OUTDOORS

This is the time of year to get out, plant and enjoy the garden. Set aside an area specifically for a children’s garden. If space is limited use pots. Together with your child prepare the soil, let them plant satisfying seeds and starts like radishes, pumpkins, water melons, cherry tomatoes, nasturtiums, fun veggies and flowers that they can enjoy AND eat. Get some child sized gardening gloves and tools and if you are lucky enough, a wheelbarrow. Buy the real thing, kid sized, instead of the plastic versions that break quickly. Children love digging, weeding, watering and hauling stuff around in their wheel barrow. If you have enough room designate an area that is just for digging without planting so they can get out there and dig whenever they like. Plant a sunflower house, vine teepee, Start a compost pile, bring in worms...
Other equipment to think about outside include:

Sandbox (Of course!) With real hand trowels and metal buckets, molds, etc.

• Balance beam
• Bar/Rings to hang from.
• Something to climb
• Something to hide in (even if it’s a hollow under a bush)
• Something to crawl through
• Wheels
• Balls
• Kid lawn furniture, light enough so that they can move it around to rearrange
• Water table/activities with all your old plastic containers and bottles to experiment with. (It can be as simple as a dish washing basin on their table.)
• Washing/scrubbing supplies to wash their water activity stuff, scrub their lawn furniture, the steps, patio, deck...
• Outdoor art supplies: sidewalk chalk, mount butcher paper on a fence to paint, etc.

Wear sunscreen, hats and HAVE FUN!!!!