In keeping with the theme this week of spring daydreaming, we've also started to turn our thoughts to this year's garden.
So, to help with the planning of where and when. . .
. . . to plant the seeds. . .
. . . we made a little game to bridge the gap between the end of winter. . .
. . . and the lush growing season ahead. . .
. . . that can be packed up in a small bag and played on a napkin while you're out and about or at home anytime you need to daydream about spring.
Garden Planning Game
Materials:
Here at Imagine Childhood we always like to use or make things that can transform and become prompts for new adventures or activities. In that spirit, I borrowed the cloth veggies from our Cloth Garden Calendar to make the game pieces for this game. I also borrowed the wooden dice from our DIY Board Game Kit.
If you haven't made our cloth garden calendar and need to start from scratch, follow these instructions:
- To make the stuffed veggies, I cut out simple shapes from scrap fabric and hand sewed them inside out before turning them and stuffing them. I used green felt to finish them off and cover up my stitches, but you could use whatever you have on hand. Alternately, you could make the veggies completely out of felt, or sew simple squares and paint pictures of the veggies on them, whatever suits your needs.
- To make the cards for the game, first draw your favorite veggies in pen or pencil. Then grab your paints and color them in. These will be your plant identification cards with an image on one side and the name of the fruit or vegetable on the other side.
- While those cards are drying, make your information cards with the name of a fruit or vegetable on one side and the information about when and where to plant it on the other side.
How to Play
- Lay out the stones in a circle on a cloth napkin or directly on the table or floor. You will need enough stones for a full circle about 12"-14" in diameter as well a some for a pile in the center.
- Ask each participant to select a cloth game piece.
- Draw straws or pick names out of a bag to see who goes first.
- During their turn, the player will roll the dice and pick a card. The dice will show the number of places the player will move forward. If they answer the card correctly they get points 1 stone for identification cards and 2 stones for information cards.
- As the players advance forward around the circle, they get to keep the stone that is in the place they land on as well as the stones they collect for answering the cards correctly.
- Keep going around the circle until there aren't any stones left.
- The winner is the one with the most pebbles at the end of the game.
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With the Kids:
- Ask your children about their favorite fruits and vegetables and start the conversation there. Which ones do they like and why?
- Invite them to make their own cloth game piece representation of their favorite fruit or vegetable.
- Draw pictures of the fruits and vegetables you'd like to grow and paint them together.
- Look up the growing information on all of the plants you would like to grow in your garden and make the information cards for the game based on your findings.
- Go on a hike or a walk to collect pebbles for the game.
- Check out all of our other fun garden activities here!
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Happy Planning!
~ Sarah
