Gardening with Your Kids!

This spring, why not try a new approach to healthy eating and teach your kids about nutrition from the ground up. Getting kids into the garden for some fun and educational activities can be the perfect way to teach them how fruits and vegetables grow – and hopefully to eat more of them too! Here are some ideas to get you started.

Garden in a Glove!What you’ll need: 1 clear powder-free glove, 5 cotton balls, 5 different types of vegetable seeds, 1 cup water, tape, one pencil with an eraser, black permanent marker

This fun craft starts with five of your favorite vegetable seeds. We recommend “growing a salad” and using lettuce, tomato, radish, cucumber and carrot seeds. Separate them into different piles on a clean work surface. Lay the glove flat and write the name of each seed on a separate finger with the black marker. Dunk the cotton ball in the cup of water and squeeze out any excess. Gently dip the cotton ball into the first group of seeds. Place the cotton ball, using the eraser end of the pencil, into the correct finger of the glove. Continue to do this with each seed until all 5 fingers are filled. Find a sunny window and tape the glove to it for plenty of sunlight. Seeds will sprout in 3-5 days and should be transplanted into soil after 1 ½ to 2 weeks. When you’re done with the activity, celebrate by making a real salad with those same ingredients- Pick up your vegetable seeds in your local ShopRite’s floral or produce department.

Take a Vote on HerbsWhat you’ll need: 3-5 different types of fresh herbs, glass cups or Mason jars, score cards and pencils

Place fresh herbs like parsley, basil, mint, cilantro or dill in separate glass cups on the counter or kitchen table and number them. Write down which number corresponds with each herb. Then, give each child a score card numbered 1-5 (or however many herbs you’re trying). Ask them to rate each herb on taste, appearance and smell on a scale of 1-10 and to write in what they liked/disliked about each one. Pick the herb with the highest score and plant it in your garden or indoors in a pot. -Pick up herb starter plants in your local ShopRite’s floral or produce department. - If you’re buying bunches of fresh herbs, keep the stems submerged in water in a small glass cup or Mason jar in the refrigerator so they last longer. Change the water once a day.

Egg Carton Seed Starter What you’ll need: 3 biodegradable empty egg cartons*, celery seeds, carrot seeds, lettuce seeds, soil, water, pictures of carrots, celery and lettuce.*biodegradable egg cartons are made from cardboard or recycled materials

By planting seeds in an egg carton you can easily transplant them into your garden once the seeds have sprouted. This lesson is a fun way to teach kids about the different parts of a plant that we eat. First, show them the pictures of the different full-grown vegetables and explain that sometimes we eat the roots (carrots), the stem (celery), or above-ground plant (lettuce). Now you’re ready to start the activity. Start by trimming off the top flap of each egg carton. Then fill each section with soil. Using one carton per seed type, place 2-3 seeds on top of the soil, then cover with additional soil. Once they’ve sprouted, you can transplant to your garden right in the egg carton (since its biodegradable). As the seeds grow, let children take note of the differences in each.