1) Starting Seedlings
Are you excited about getting your seeds started this month? Here are some ideas to get your kids involved that will help them connect with “getting their hands dirty” while you plant.

Scoop and pour- emphasis on fine and gross motor skills. What you need: pan/baking dish half full of soil, scoops (you can use measuring cups), cups without handles, funnels.

Activity:
Ages 1-2: Have your child scoop and pour the gardening soil into a plastic cup until it is full. Take a second plastic cup. Pour soil from one cup to another. Pour soil into a funnel placed on a clear cup. As the adult comments when the cup is half full, or full to a selected height on the cup’s wall, empty, note that the soil goes through the funnel.

Ages 3-4: Same as above but be sure to have two cups that are the same, fill the two cups to the same level, repeat with different levels of soil and make them the same. Transfer this to filling your potting cups with the same amount of soil each and then planting seeds the “same” depth below the soil.

Ages 5-6: (and above)- help with filling the potting cups. folding paper pots and planting the seeds. Also help with misting the seedlings daily once sprouted and checking for growth!

Source: https://renewurbangarden.com/

2) Grow a Bean Garden
In this activity, your kids will observe the germination of a plant from a seed, and explore what factors are needed for growth. Planting a "Bean Garden" in a clear cup or bag provides a demonstration for how the roots, stems and leaves develop.
Plants play an important role in the natural world. Not only are they a healthy part of our meals, providing nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fiber and water, but they are also the base of the entire food web! Plants use solar energy to grow, producing sugars that animals eat to live and grow as well.
Seeds germinate or "sprout" when the moisture and temperature conditions signal to the embryonic plant inside the protective seed coat that conditions outside are good to begin to grow.
The seed grows small roots and shoots that push through the surface of the soil. The shoots develop into a small seedling—branches with leaves.

Materials

• bean seeds (pinto beans or scarlet runner beans work well)
• paper towels
• clear plastic cup or ziplock bag
• water
• space on a sunny windowsill

What To Do

1. Soak bean seeds in water overnight. This softens them and helps them to sprout.

2. Fold a paper towel in half or thirds. Use it to line the sides and the bottom of the cup/bag. Scrunch a second paper towel and use it to fill the middle of the cup/bag, to keep everything in place.

3. Dampen the paper towels with water. Don’t soak them!

4. Slide a few bean seeds between the paper towel and the sides of the cup/bag, where they can be clearly seen. Do not slide the beans all the way to the bottom of the cup/bag so the roots have space to grow visibly downwards.

5. Put the cup/bag in a sunny spot and keep the paper towel damp. Bags can be taped directly onto a window!

6. Draw or photograph the seed every day to keep track of the changes. Include a ruler for scale to allow measurement of growth over time.

3) Upcycle and Create a Garden
Kids will love the opportunity to get creative and their hands dirty! Plant a vegetable, herb or strawberry garden in a re-purposed sand box. They will be so proud to pick, clean and serve the output of their labor and love from their garden!

More Resources:

Follow this link for more ideas!

https://www.parenting.com/activities/family-time/gardening-kids/