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Gardening Lab for Kids: 52 Fun Experiments to Learn, Grow, Harvest, Make, Play, and Enjoy Your Garden
A refreshing source of ideas to help your children learn to grow their own patch of earth, Gardening Lab for Kids encourages children to get outside and enjoy nature. This fun and creative book features 52 plant-related activities set into weekly lessons, beginning with learning to read maps to find your heat zone, moving through seeds, soil, composting, and then creating garden art and appreciating your natural surroundings.
Author Renata Fossen Brown guides your family through fun activities that are also lessons about botany, ecology, the seasons, food, patience, insects, eating, and cooking. Have fun Gardening Lab for Kids is the perfect book for creative families, friends, and community groups and works as lesson plans for both experienced and new gardeners. Children of all ages and experience levels can be guided by adults and will enjoy these engaging exercises. So, slip on your muddy clothes, and get out and grow!
The popular Lab for Kids series features a growing list of books that share hands-on activities and projects on a wide host of topics , including art, astronomy, clay, geology, math, and even how to create your own circus—all authored by established experts in their fields. Each lab contains a complete materials list , clear step-by-step photographs of the process, as well as finished samples . The labs can be used as singular projects or as part of a yearlong curriculum of experiential learning. The activities are open-ended, designed to be explored over and over, often with different results. Geared toward being taught or guided by adults, they are enriching for a range of ages and skill levels. Gain firsthand knowledge on your favorite topic with Lab for Kids.
Author Renata Fossen Brown guides your family through fun activities that are also lessons about botany, ecology, the seasons, food, patience, insects, eating, and cooking. Have fun Gardening Lab for Kids is the perfect book for creative families, friends, and community groups and works as lesson plans for both experienced and new gardeners. Children of all ages and experience levels can be guided by adults and will enjoy these engaging exercises. So, slip on your muddy clothes, and get out and grow!
The popular Lab for Kids series features a growing list of books that share hands-on activities and projects on a wide host of topics , including art, astronomy, clay, geology, math, and even how to create your own circus—all authored by established experts in their fields. Each lab contains a complete materials list , clear step-by-step photographs of the process, as well as finished samples . The labs can be used as singular projects or as part of a yearlong curriculum of experiential learning. The activities are open-ended, designed to be explored over and over, often with different results. Geared toward being taught or guided by adults, they are enriching for a range of ages and skill levels. Gain firsthand knowledge on your favorite topic with Lab for Kids.
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
53 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 17, 2017
Unless you plan on letting your kids have free reign to dismantle your backyard, only a few of the tips and "experiments" included in this book will prove useful. The reading level oscillates between directly talking to a child reader, to using proper biological terms for the parts of a seed, which could be confusing if the child and would be talking down to a parent assisting the child. While I think it was a good idea to include these terms, it didn't feel like progressive learning.
On the plus side, I liked that a few of the mini-gardens were broken down into the foods they produce, like a "pizza" or "salsa" garden, showing kids what goes into these foodstuffs, and then recipes so they can make salsa for themselves, out of the vegetables they grew. These examples would also transition well to a wide variety of living situations. Most of the experiments mentioned, unfortunately, don't translate if you don't have a lot of outdoor space. The idea of rain barrels, are also interesting and a green option many friends have enjoyed. Instructions seem pretty complete and would be a great building project for an older child (still with a parent). A few other up-cycle projects are also versatile and can be used for existing gardening space or potted plants, to help spark interest.
As an example of taking over your yard, however large that might be, one experiment involves laying out a hose to mark where you'll put your garden, then pushing a lawnmower around the edges, then capped off with spray painting the lines into the yard before you begin planting. I'm sure the creative parents this book is targeting could find a work around to make something similar work for the space they have and their child, but I would have expected a book of this nature to have made a more flexible plan, and not left it to the parents.
The idea of a patio or container garden is mentioned, but it also includes vague instructions like "small annuals". There is so much white space on the pages (I have the ebook), it would have been nice to add in one or two options for different zones in each section, maybe altering zones with each passage. Sections that would show why you plant certain things together, or potentially use existing gardens the parents might have planted as examples would have been nice.
Unless you have room in your yard for a wide variety of outdoor crafts, like planters with sports themes, building brick spirals, or painting salvaged tires, I'd recommend sticking with your local outreach/extension programs, where you can get accurate information from your specific region, often with child friendly themes.
Check schools near you to see what programs you can add to this book for additional hands-on learning and a great accompaniment to these instructional books.
On the plus side, I liked that a few of the mini-gardens were broken down into the foods they produce, like a "pizza" or "salsa" garden, showing kids what goes into these foodstuffs, and then recipes so they can make salsa for themselves, out of the vegetables they grew. These examples would also transition well to a wide variety of living situations. Most of the experiments mentioned, unfortunately, don't translate if you don't have a lot of outdoor space. The idea of rain barrels, are also interesting and a green option many friends have enjoyed. Instructions seem pretty complete and would be a great building project for an older child (still with a parent). A few other up-cycle projects are also versatile and can be used for existing gardening space or potted plants, to help spark interest.
As an example of taking over your yard, however large that might be, one experiment involves laying out a hose to mark where you'll put your garden, then pushing a lawnmower around the edges, then capped off with spray painting the lines into the yard before you begin planting. I'm sure the creative parents this book is targeting could find a work around to make something similar work for the space they have and their child, but I would have expected a book of this nature to have made a more flexible plan, and not left it to the parents.
The idea of a patio or container garden is mentioned, but it also includes vague instructions like "small annuals". There is so much white space on the pages (I have the ebook), it would have been nice to add in one or two options for different zones in each section, maybe altering zones with each passage. Sections that would show why you plant certain things together, or potentially use existing gardens the parents might have planted as examples would have been nice.
Unless you have room in your yard for a wide variety of outdoor crafts, like planters with sports themes, building brick spirals, or painting salvaged tires, I'd recommend sticking with your local outreach/extension programs, where you can get accurate information from your specific region, often with child friendly themes.
Check schools near you to see what programs you can add to this book for additional hands-on learning and a great accompaniment to these instructional books.
April 2, 2015
A great gardening book for kids and adults. The photos are inspiring and the projects are actually realistic to do with your kids and in your back yard. The layout of this book is clear and well designed. When critiquing children's activity books I look for uniqueness and above average, yet accessible, creativity potential. Also, the tools used must be economical and environmentally friendly. This book met my expectations. Love this book.
April 10, 2014
Even though I don't have kids I am so making a bunch of the projects in this book! There is one showing how to make a spiral herb garden that is so modern and beautiful! A lot of the projects can be made with recycled elements so I have most supplies on hand.
February 23, 2024
A few interesting ideas, but suggesting to plant potatoes in tires sounds awful, the tires can leach nasty stuff from the tires and from driving into the soil and into the potatoes.
This has more art projects than *lab* type projects, which was a bummer.
This has more art projects than *lab* type projects, which was a bummer.
June 30, 2019
Some good ideas for outdoor art projects for scouts
June 26, 2020
I don't have the energy for these activities this summer. But, maybe next. There were some cute ideas for teaching and experimenting with plants in it.
September 23, 2020
Got lots of ideas for my garden, always start with children's books first!
March 7, 2025
Cute projects for kids, kind of Montessori-esque. Could adapt easily to different levels of complexity for various ages & levels of competence.
April 27, 2017
Gardening Lab for Kids 52 Fun Experiments is a great book and a great way to get children and parents started in gardening. The pictures helped with the written instructions. In addition to learning how to grow plants the book covers theme gardening, art gardening, making sachets, flower arrangement and more.
February 18, 2015
This book shows families and children how they can easily plant a variety of flowers, vegetables and herbs in gardens, pots and boxes. Gardening Lab highlights projects families can work on together exploring botony, ecology and garden art, especially useful in a homeschooling environment. Reviewer 25
October 6, 2015
I'm doing my research before starting a garden in the springtime, and this book was FULL of great ideas in how to incorporate my kiddos in the process, hands on, so they don't even know they are 'learning' while digging in the dirt!
April 7, 2016
Not as much science or experiments as I was hoping for but it's an awesome garden activity book none the less. I think the activities would appeal to all ages from children to teens and some would even appeal to adults too.
September 15, 2014
This is by FAR the best book I've ever written. Once I've written my second book this may not still be the case.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews