The winter chill is losing its grip. Flowers are sprouting up in triumph. Spring has arrived as promised.
Here are 4 creative projects to offer your kids this season!
1. Grow a Garden
Gardening together grows more than plants. It grows family connections. Additionally, gardening has benefits such as teaching patience and boosting healthy eating, as well as sensory benefits! If you’re a gardening novice like me, this list from NC State University tells you what you can plant in the spring.
Consider getting creative with a fairy garden like this one seen here at Creative Child, or try one of these fun themes from The Micro Gardener. Whether you plant vegetables, herbs, or flowers, you’re sure to be planting happy memories along the way.
2. Create a Terrarium
Terrariums are a fun way to get kids outside and into nature, and they provide loads of learning opportunities. Children can explore topics such as habitats, plant species, amphibians, reptiles, bugs, worms, rocks, and more! They may choose to just grow plants, or maybe they’ll want to keep a turtle, frog, or lizard to observe for a while. Let them be creative with decorating! Look at craft shops and dollar stores for cheap, fun finds.
Just be sure they research the critter they’re caring for so they provide what it needs to survive, and release it back where they found it when they’re ready. What you’ll need is dependent upon what type of terrarium your children want to create, so here are instructions for a basic plant terrarium, a lizard terrarium, a frog terrarium, and a worm habitat.
More Spring Projects continued...
3. Set up a Lemonade Stand
Last summer, my boys set up a waffle stand with their grandmother to earn a few extra bucks. They donated a bit of their earnings to their sponsored child and the rest went to a toy they’d been saving for. I don’t know if they remember what toy they bought, but they often talk about the fun they had making waffles in Grandma’s kitchen.
Ask your children to choose a charity they’d like to support, and then help them set up a weekend lemonade stand or bake sale. This is a great project for teaching compassion, service, and responsibility.
4. Raise Caterpillars and Butterflies
Teach kids about the life cycle and provide a window into one of nature’s beautiful miracles by raising caterpillars and butterflies this spring.
- You’ll need an aquarium or a large mason jar.
- Be sure the opening is big enough for the butterfly to escape from.
- Poke holes in the lid to provide air.
- Add 2 inches of soil to the bottom of the jar.
- Find a caterpillar and put it into the jar along with several of the types of plants that you found the caterpillar on.
- Most caterpillars need 1 to 2 leaves per day. It’s important to research the type of caterpillar you have and make sure you provide the right plants, or else it may not eat.
- Put some sticks in the jar for the caterpillar to spin its cocoon upon.
- Once the caterpillar is in the cocoon, mist occasionally to provide moisture.
- Provide another stick for your butterfly to hang on once it emerges. Butterflies need a stick to hang on to so they can pump fluid into their wings.
- Once the butterfly emerges, keep it for a few hours to observe and learn, and then release it back into nature.
Happy Spring!