Our Itty Bitty Garden is Growing Up: Part 2

A week ago, we had an itty bitty garden that consisted of 3 miniature pots. Only basil had sprouted. We transplanted it into a larger pot and added more basil seeds to it. We also planted cilantro seeds in another.

The next day, my girls were excited to continue...

They planted beefsteak tomatoes and strawberries in the remaining small pots from planting kits bought at Target. They also planted parsley, chives, and more tomato seeds in the remaining larger plastic pots.

3 days later, basil had grown and more seeds had sprouted. A few beefsteak tomato seeds had sprouted, too! This was exciting and the kids were asking daily (at very hour, it feels) if they could go outside to check on the garden. Every morning they peek out the window.

The next day, the beefsteak tomato plant had grown significantly. This was exciting, too.

Today, a week after moving our basil into a bigger pot and planting other seeds, we have 4 plants growing - tomato in the small and big pot, cilantro, and basil. Here are the latest pictures of our garden.

 

We are still waiting, with much anticipation, for the curled parsley, strawberry, and chive plants to sprout.

Gardening, already is such an awesome learning experience for the kids. I'm learning, too. I've never had a garden of my own. So it's new for all of us. The kids are really enjoying it. And if you notice we've only planted foods. The kids get to see first hand what real food looks like and how to grow it. My daughter is already looking forward to picking from our garden for cooking. Shouldn't all schools add tending a garden or growing food as part of their curriculum? Food is pretty important, after all.

A Three Bears Kinda' Morning

My girls love cooking so whenever possible I try to incorporate it into our lessons. With cooking, math problems are meaningful. Here's how cooking (and math) was incorporated into our fairy tale unit.

Three Bears' Breakfast - Math and Cooking Activity

We read Goldilocks (an English and Spanish version), so naturally my kids requested we make porridge for breakfast. My younger daughter also made sure to ask "Can we take a walk to let it cool off?"

First, I showed the girls the servings chart on the back of a Quaker Oats container. I explained, in order for there to be enough oatmeal for all of us, we need to convert this recipe for four servings. Using the actual measurements on the container, I created a chart for them to fill out.

For KDO I filled in the "1 serving" column.
Note: She decided she didn't want salt.

I told her each person gets one cup of milk and half of a cup of oats. So, if it says "2 servings," she needs to draw the cup and half cup twice; and so on. Then she filled in the rest of the columns. We've done this before, so she is already figuring out that she can draw a full cup instead of two half-cups or vice versa.

Here's her chart:

For my 10 year old, I told her to use the information from the "2 servings" column on the container to figure out the measurements for 3 and 4 servings.

Using their charts and cooking instructions on the oats container, we made breakfast.

Once the oatmeal was cooked, just like Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear... we took a walk outside while our porridge cooled off. On our short walk we collected flowers for future art projects: mini flower still life, and pressed flower collages.

This post is part of a fairy tale thematic series; make sure to check out all the posts related to this unit.

Goldilocks Inspired Tea Party

As part of our Fairy Tale Theme Unit,
we had a Tea Party à la Goldilocks!

After our first Fairy Tale Lesson, my KinderDropOut (age 6) read Goldilocks by Ruth Sanderson. The story ends with the 3 Bears and Goldilocks having blueberry muffins and tea. This inspired our outdoor tea party. The girls made muffins, using the recipe - Papa Bear's Blueberry Muffins - included at the end of the book. While they worked together, I prepared a non-caffeinated tea I already had in my cupboards.

Recipe can be found at the end of the book - Goldilocks by Ruth Sanderson.

By cooking together, my hope is that the girls will build a strong bond as sisters and learn to work well as a team.

I filled a tote bag with a bottle of honey, a bottle of milk, muffins in tupperware, a blanket, tea cups, napkins, and the Goldilocks book. With tote bag and tea kettle in hand, we headed outside.

My toddler sipped almond milk instead of tea.

While they sipped their tea and had blueberry muffins topped with honey, I read Goldilocks. After tea, they played and enjoyed being outdoors.

Learning Spanish with Goldilocks and the Three Bears

The day ended nicely with a bedtime story of Goldilocks in Spanish. I used a board book titled: Ricitos de Oro y Los Tres Ositos. My kids speak some Spanish but they don't read Spanish independently yet. 

For beginning Spanish students, try reading a baby board book (a Spanish version of something you already read) then have your kids use the pictures as clues to what the words mean. It's ok if they don't understand all the words. And don't worry too much about pronunciation, if you're just getting started. Naturally, we all learn to speak first; pronunciation and writing comes later. Treat Spanish-learning in terms of baby steps (first words), toddler stage (phrases & short sentences), and school age (pronunciation, reading, and writing).

Make sure to check out the rest of our fairy tale activities!