fun for kids---

hi everyone... any suggestions for making gardening even more fun for kids? i remember reading about doing a pole bean teepee, but can't remember where....can anyone help??

thanks (delurking...) betsey "we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

Reply to
Two x over
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Try the Sharon Lovejoy books!

Cheryl

Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

back in about 1975 or so we built one for the grandchildren and i think i had a pic of it on my web site but can't remember if it is still on line. We just took long poles from where a builder was clearing an area and placed them in the customary circular and tied the tops together and laced some clothesline wire around to solidify it, then placed a tarpolion over it in a fashion to make a door, and when it was time to plant, planted the pole beans and let them climb up over it keeping an area clear for the door. They loved it! worked like that three summers with beans and two winters with tarps before they outgrew it. if you want to see it let me know and I'll get it off my hard disk and send it to you via e-mail Leo/lee

Reply to
Lee

thank you leo! your description was right on target!! i think we will try this come spring....my little guy (almost three) will LOVE IT!

betsey ps-i'd love a photo if its not too much of a pain to get .... betsey "we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

Reply to
Two x over

Call me a crumudgeon. But my grandmother used to have a saying in Italian which I will translate roughly..... "When the fun begins, the learning stops".

Basically, in today's "educational system" everything is based on fun. Back in the era when America's great leaders were educated (in fact, right up until the 1960s or so), school was designed as being anything but FUN. Education was serious business. Today in the DOZENS of countries which surpass the US in educational quality and achievement, most particularly the Asian countries, fun is not particularly important in the educational process. I seriously think that is where the Americal educational system has gone very, very wrong. Insisting that every learning experience be one big "whooptie hoo haaa".

I think you would benefit your children more by making it a learning experience rather than a FUN one.

Em

Be careful what you wish for....

Reply to
Auntie Em

____Reply Separator_____

And what did you learn at recess? Geez, for all these years, kids looked forward to recess because they thought it was fun. Thanks for setting them straight.

Reply to
TOM KAN PA

School was interesting, but not fun until about 1970. When it got to be "fun", it got boring.

I am at the point of home schooling my two - what passes for education is truly lubricious.

But teaching a child to garden should be fun with out trying to be "fun"

Cheryl

Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

hi guys... thanks for your thoughts. i'd like to point out, when i asked about "fun for kids", i was, in fact, talking about what would be fun for a kid who is turning THREE in january. not a teen, a tween, or 10 year old. my ten year old just finished her fifth grade science project on the purple cone flower, and did an awsome job. she knows how to garden.

i did think, it would be "fun" (oh lord, did i SAY that word?" to try and grow a teepee for the little guy.

of course, now that i know better, i will sit him down, and teach him about soil composition...... betsey "we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

Reply to
Two x over

Oh dear - I certainly didn't want to rain on your parade!

Grow him a bean teepee or a sunflower house and have tea party!

Cheryl

Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

and as you know, the group will not accept digital images. ??? how can I help you? I have used all the space on my web site allowed... had to delete some of it leo/lee

news:...

Reply to
Lee

I don't think Betsy is thinking fun like whoopity doo, i think she means like making it interesting, bringing out the wonder of nature which is a different kind of fun than whoopity doo. When I was pre first grade, my aunt had a huge vegetable garden with all kinds of stuff from radishes to corn ..lots of corn.. and she would give me several varieties of seeds and a small area near the fence and let me plant them the way she did and to me it was a real miracal (my mind is skipping a beat and can't spell tonite!!)the way the little sprouts would come up from what looked like an insignificant bit of material. Starting with her and my mother's support, I've had something growing ever since no matter where i was/am. "Interesting" is a type of fun that makes one delve deeper into a subject to learn more about it. Children are people too, and all people need a break from the daily sessions just like adults need a 15 minute break from their desks. So a bit of fun at break i think is good...if the bullies are kept under control.. we had them we i was little, too Leo/lee

Reply to
Lee

Why can't school be fun and educational at the same time? Not every child is going to find every topic interesting and fun, but we can try to present the information to appeal to different learning styles so they will attain the information better. After all, children are going to remember the material they found interesting and disregard the boring information they chose to tune out. More importantly I believe we need to find more ways to intrinsically motivate children. Any ideas?

Reply to
lml227

thanks cheryl and lee... and yes, we are going to grow a bean teepee, and lots and lots of sunflowers (he loves them.....every thing about sunflowers, how big can we get them to grow, how they hang their heads, and how birds eat the seeds....)

fun is important. and while i can appreciate the comments that "all education is now mandated to be fun"-thats not necessarily the truth, at least not in our small parochial school...fun is a very much needed aspect of life! betsey "we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

Reply to
Two x over

hmmm... you could try snipped-for-privacy@harleysvillegroup.com

that's my office email. im sorry that it bounced---usually i get things! betsey "we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

Reply to
Two x over

Auntie Em wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

wrong. besides, the OP is asking about making gardening more fun/interesting, not how to get the kids to do calculus.

the major failings of the current system are too much bureaucracy, too much teaching to the test at the expense of actual *learning*, oversized classes in elementary schools, teachers being expected to not only teach the basics but also ESL, deal with LD students mainsteamed into thier classes, disipline the parents neglected to teach... etc. it has little to do with the kids having "fun". lee

Reply to
enigma

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Two x over) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m21.aol.com:

so he'll be 3.5 in the summer... my son just turned 4 last August. he had a bean teepee with green, yellow & purple beans. radishes are great for 3 year old because they get from seed to harvest so quickly. try the multi-colored varieties plus white icicle radishes. he also really enjoyed growing peas. i bought him a Parks patio salad garden set (preseeded paper you put in pots) containing sweet 100 tomatoes, assorted lettuces & bell peppers. i helped him set the pots up & he tended them all summer. his tomatoes did better than any in the big garden. sunflowers tend to be a big hit with little kids too. lee

Reply to
enigma

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