Activities and Ideas for Gardening

Clubs
Art & Design
1 Make a collage with the parts of a flower, using double-sided tape on a sheet
of card. This encourages awareness and understanding as well as greater
respect for the beauty and complexity of the natural world.

2 Make seed packets and collect seeds from the garden to put inside.

3 Make seed collages. Cover a small piece of card with plasticine and press the
seeds in to make a pattern. Finish with a layer of varnish.

4 Press seasonal leaves and flowers. Make identification cards / greetings

cards / classroom displays.

5 Make Autumn windows. Press colourful autumn leaves. Cut a laminating

pouch into squares, give one to each child so that they make their own
arrangement of whole or cut leaves. Keep the edge of the laminating pouch
clear so that the leaves are completely encapsulated. Hang them together as
a mobile, using garden rings put through punched holes.

6 Make a classroom display about: The school garden through the seasons /
wildlife discovered in the garden / worms / compost / favourite plant or tree /
poisonous plants / exotic plants / plants for food

7 Design your own garden and in a shoebox, make a 3D model with paper cut-
outs.

8 A garden in a shoe (or other unusual object) consider the growing

conditions required by plants. Run a competition to find the most unusual
container.

9 Make a topiary wire frame and grow ivy around it.

10 Make a hanging garden in a carrier bag.

11 Make a mini garden on a tray / tin lid / plate.

12 Make a mini water garden in a barrel / bowl / storage box.

13 Make a piece of garden sculpture from recycled junk.

14 Make a wind chime from natural objects.

15 Paint plant pots in bright multi colours and grow plants that respond to light
 and shade.

16 Make paints and dyes from plants.

17 Make potato prints and design book covers / wrapping paper...

18 Make lavender bags using lavender grown in the school garden.

19 Make pot-pourri, research recipes in books about the Tudors.

20 Make model bugs / insects / animals using vegetables and cocktail sticks or
natural materials collected from the garden eg pine cones, acorns and seeds.

21 Make model mini-beasts that move using yoghurt cartons, cotton reels and
elastic bands etc.

22 Ephemeral art in the garden. Look at the work of Andy Goldsworthy and
create designs using natural objects.

23 Make characters with growing hair using cardboard tubes. Decorate the tube
or draw features, fill the tube with compost and plant fast growing seeds, eg
mustard and cress or grass seed.

24 Grow pumpkins and make lanterns. Discuss the traditions of Halloween -

good v evil.

25 Make Christmas decorations using nuts, leaves, seed heads, cinnamon sticks,
chillies, berries and fruit.

26 Make a Christmas wreath using foliage and berries from the school garden.

27 Plant a rainbow. Choose summer bedding plants in rainbow colours and plant
in rows, in an arc shape, as carpet bedding.

28 Design a carpet bedding scheme and use plants in the school colours.

29 Make bird feeders Encourage the children to research the birds observed in
their own garden and the different ways to feed them.

Contact the RSPB for further information.

30 Make a scarecrow / bird scarer using food tins / plant pots / a wooden frame
dressed with old clothes discuss its uses, good or bad?

31 Make homes for lacewings and solitary bees tie short lengths of cane
together and hang in trees.

32 Build mini-beasts homes using log piles.

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33 Build a mini-beast trap by sinking a jar or pot up to its rim. Discuss with the
children the best bait to use, piece of fruit or vegetable and then protect the
pot from rain covering it with a tile or stone held up on smaller stones. Visit
this regularly to identify and release the mini-beasts.

Numeracy
34 Survey your school grounds and local area recording flora and fauna.

35 Snail survey. Mark the shell with tippex and see how far it travels over a day /
week. Code different snails with different marks. Record and chart the
results.

36 Mow a maze in long grass on the school field. Plan the design, discuss the
shape / angles / curves / spiral / symmetry.

37 Plant a living willow Maze. Plan and discuss the shape and design.

38 Plant a fast growing annual / grass / bamboo and record its growth and height
ie sunflower.

39 Investigations:

How many prickles do Holly leaves have?

How many lobes do Oak leaves have?

How many seeds does a Dandelion clock have?

How many sepals/petals does a Daisy have?

Calculations:

40 Discuss number of bulbs / plants / seeds required for the plot and their varying
requirements when planting, ie space, depth.

41 What equipment do you need to measure:

The height of a sunflower?

The water temperature of the pond?

How much compost will be needed to fill containers?

42 Plant a carpet-bedding scheme as a sundial. Position numbers and pointer

and encourage children to tell the time.

43 Use different methods to measure the height of trees in your school grounds.

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44 How tall are you in leaves? Lie on the ground and ask a friend to measure
your length using one type of leaf. How many leaves long are you?!

45 Measure and mark out two areas of the school grounds (the same size).
Count and record the variety of plants found in each area.

46 Look at reflections in the pond and discuss reflective symmetry.

47 Plant twenty sunflower seeds. How many germinate? Discuss as a fraction /

percentage.

Science
48 Keep a weather record. Decide what to measure: temperature / wind direction
/ rainfall / hours of sunshine.

49 Look at light and shade throughout the day and year. Measure shadow
length. Discuss conditions plants need.

50 Count and record the variety of evergreen / deciduous trees around the school
and local area. Look at the different leaf shapes.

51 Discuss weeds and wildflowers. What is the difference?

52 Can you grow a loaf of bread? Try growing: wheat / oats / barley / rye.

53 Collect some mini-beasts which ones are slow and which are fast? Why?

54 Make a wormery and look at worms.

55 Soil study. What sort of soil do you have? What is its pH? What plants will
grow best in it?

56 Look at leaves. Record the various growing points: seed leaves / attached to
stems / from the ground / opposite pairs / alternate pairs / spiralling. Discuss
evergreen and deciduous plants.

57 Plant bulbs:

Spring: Daffodils / Grape Hyacinths / Crocuses / Irises

Summer: Lilies / Alliums / Gladioli

58 Take cuttings:

Leaf / stem / root

59 Look at different seeds under a microscope. Discuss germination

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 requirements and various methods of dispersal.

60 Sow different seeds:

Record germination time / look at the seed leaves, do they all look the same?

61 Bugs: the good, the bad and the ugly! Learn to recognise which insects are
helpful or harmful in the garden.

Citizenship
62 Litter hunt: Collect litter and discuss ways of controlling litter in and around the
school. Where does it go?

63 Make a school playground compost bin.

64 The Compostable Lunch Challenge. Discuss which foods are compostable ie

fruit and vegetables, consider food and drink packaging - which are
biodegradable or recyclable? Measure the compostable material against the
packaging.

Literacy
65 Discuss Health and Safety in the garden.

66 Tools. Discuss their uses: how to carry, use and store them safely.

67 Write plant labels / row markers. Decide what information to record: common
and botanical name / date planted / frequency of watering etc.

68 Keep a nature diary. Record the flowering season of plants / the variety of
plants found in the school grounds / the wildlife.

69 Keep a Gardening Club diary. Record activities, write reports and take photos.
Record successes and failures of plants grown, to help plan for next year.

70 Name and label the parts of a flower.

71 Game: Im thinking of a plant. One child thinks of a plant and the others ask
questions to identify it. Only yes and no answers allowed!

72 Game: Divide the children into groups and give a leaf to each group, ask them
to write a clear description about it on a card. Place all leaves and cards
together. Can they match the correct description to the correct leaf?

73 Collect leaves of different shapes, introduce the terms simple, composite,

lobed, serrated, lanceolate, palmate, pinnate

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74 Look up famous plant hunters Banks, Dickson, Francis Masson, David
Douglas, Hooker, Robert Fortune, Wilson

Research the plants they introduced to this country.

75 Use your school garden to inspire: Prose / Poetry / Drama

Autumn Poem

Autumn leaves swirl in the air

They fly around without a care.

In goes the sun, out comes the rain

Children are out with their wellies again.

The heavy rain and the cold breeze

Keeps the birds hiding in the trees.

Spring has gone, summer passed by

Autumn is here bringing clouds in the sky.

Butterflies and birds fly away

Because autumn is here

And it is here to stay!

By Billie Davies

Age: 11 years

Winton Primary School

School & Family Learning,

RHS Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB

E-mail: school@rhs.org.uk Website: www.rhs.org.uk