Ideas for family friendly garden zones

I came across this link to 9 Ideas for family Friendly Garden Zones on facebook, and it has some great ideas and gives a pretty cheap and simple version of each.  I think this list is fantastic, but would like to add to it with the 'Banging Wall' idea from Chasing Cheerios and of course a vegie and herb patch which I know my toddler loves.

What do your little ones like best in the garden?

Doing dishes with Daddy

Geekling loves to help around the house.  He loves to help with cooking, sweeping, vacuuming, watering plants, feeding the animals (cat, dog and chickens) and now doing the dishes.

 Drying dishes with Daddy

Following Montessori guidelines, we try to provide him with child-sized utensils where possible.  He has his own small broom, a miniature vacuum cleaner (that does actually work) and a little watering can.

Pick of the toy store, and my little Montessori man choose the broom!

He is really becoming very helpful at home!  Each meal he takes his empty bowl or plate to the kitchen, and will usually offer to take ours too.  He feeds the cat and dog most mornings and evenings, if the door is opened for him he will go out, get the dog's or cat's dish and then get the dry food from where its stored, measure and tip in the correct amount.  One of us parents usually adds the wet food though.  He also loves collecting eggs from the chooks and putting them in the box in the kitchen.

There are lots of websites around with lists of toddler appropriate chores for anyone wondering what their little man or lady is capable of contributing to the home.

Lightsaber play

Hubby has introduced Geekling to the fun of playing with lightsabers! Hubby's is a proper replica, Geekling's is the Wii-remote version that came with a game some time ago and is just the right size for him.

We don't call him Geekling for nothing!

The Big Dig at the Abbey Art & Archeology Museum

The Abbey Museum of Art and Archeology had a Big Dig event on recently, where they set up a toddler excavation area (as well as a more complex one for older kids).  I think that teaching some of the younger toddlers to dig and sift into bucket was a bit ambitious, but Geekling and his cousins had a great time.  All three of the kids found treasures - although Geekling's treasure was a small glass bead, which he declared looked like a jellybean and kept trying to put it in his mouth.  Hmmm... they didn't think that through perhaps.

 Geekling resorts to using his hands

Afterwards, we went to Centenary Lakes park in Caboolture and fed the ducks, then played on the play equipment before heading home.

Fly Away Home @ GoMA

We've posted before about trips to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) - they always have at least one kid specific exhibit but Geekling is getting old enough that he is interested in other exhibits too, especially as many are interactive or involve lights, sounds etc.

 This amazing cubby-like tree piece is made from a lot of yarn with all kinds of treasures included.

 Geekling and his dad making their bird.  Geekling insisted on giving it the same name as him, and apparently it lives underground and eats chippies.

 The Fly Away Home room with birds in the trees in the center of the tables and in the nest box like alcoves in the hallway out (far left).

There was another exhibit that had old school bench chairs, and invited folks to make a paper rubbing on them as each chair had a different Thai carving in the flip table top.

Geekling had to visit that first piece again before we left!

Previous GoMA posts:
Obliteration Room & We Miss You Magic Land
Surrealism for Kids
21st Century Kids

Bug catching

As a child I delighted in catching bugs and observing them for a time before releasing them.  I had one of the those cheap plastic bug houses that was standard issue in the 80s.  I'd always planned to get one for Geekling so when I saw this gorgeous wood and mesh one, I had to get it.

Image: http://www.uniquekids.com.au which stocks this catcher.  I got the same one from Bright Bugs

We have had a couple of occupants so far - a lady beetle we housed in there for a day before releasing...

and a very funky caterpillar.  It was green and black striped, fuzzy and had a red head and black feelers.  The red head reminded me of Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar which is Geekling's favourite book.

 He loved watching his "pet pillar".  When we went to release the silly thing it clung to the mesh and it took 3 days to find its way out.  Or maybe it was enjoying the food too much.

Flowers in the bath

Geekling has only recently begun accepting baths again after about 8 months of being completely petrified of them (all the while loving his swimming lessons).  It's been a full turn around - today he asked for a bath in the afternoon just for fun.

To make it a bit more interesting, I grabbed some leaves and flowers from our herb and vegie patch to add to the bathwater - marigolds, tarragon flowers, carrot leaves and nasturtium leaves.  Geekling is well past the  stage of sticking everything in his mouth, but all of these are edible if he had chose to try them.

He had great fun counting them, naming colours, sticking the flowers in between his toes and then we discovered the nasturtium leaves stuck really well to wet skin...