Explore More is currently closed but that doesn’t mean we can’t help our museum friends discover, create, imagine and play! That’s why we’ve decided to stay connected and pass along fun ideas so you can EXPLORE MORE AT HOME! We’ll be sending out messages on social media each day and then posting everything here so you can check it out whenever you’d like.
We’d love to see how you are exploring at home! Just snap a pic and post it on our FB or Instagram accounts and tag #ExploreMoreAtHome. Be on the lookout for ongoing suggestions for D-I-Y creative play and plenty of parenting support, too.
Vegetable Gardening
Now more than ever, it’s a good time to think about growing your own food and luckily it’s a great activity for the whole family to enjoy together! Below are activities chosen to get kids excited about both growing and eating their veggies!
Today we're exploring vegetable gardening! Join Ms. Melanie as she plants some seeds. Then check out all of our activities below.
SCIENCE
The first thing you need to do when planning a garden is to make sure you have healthy soil. Composting is a great way to help that happen. Make this simple COUNTERTOP COMPOSTER to help you get started.
How does a seed turn into a plant? Find out HERE, and then watch it all happen in real life with this homemade ROOT VIEWER, which will let you watch every stage of your plant’s growth!
WATCH AND LEARN
Listen and follow along with two of our favorite stories about growing vegetables!
Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
SING AND MOVE
The Garden Song performed by David Mallet
In My Garden - Raffi
CREATE
Once your seeds are planted in the garden, you’ll need to label them so you can identify when they grow. You can paint RECYCLED LIDS or make GARDEN GNOMES to create fun row markers.
You can also make these ROCKS and place them around your garden for decorations.
This fun CRAFT will help you learn which plants grow on, above, or below the ground!
GROW
Watch this video of PLANTING HACKS to discover some unusual ways you could sprout some plants right from vegetables you have in your kitchen.
If you don’t have space in your yard for a large garden, follow these instructions for creating an easy COUNTERTOP GARDEN.
If you can find even a small space in your yard, you might like to plant this PIZZA GARDEN. When you harvest it you’ll have enough fresh ingredients to throw your very own pizza party.