Gardening with little ones is an outdoor activity that is sure to establish good habits, has positive impacts on mood and self confidence and develops practical life skills. For this week's activity, we decided to plant tomato plants to get excited about eating tomatoes and watching them grow! We read that they are relatively easy to grow, even for kids and are a delicious and hardy fruit. We can't wait to watch our tomatoes grow and look forward to eating them.
We began the activity by reading Joanna Gaines' book, "We Are the Gardeners." This is a story that chronicles the adventures of her family starting their own garden and the challenges, knowledge and triumphs along the way to growing a happy and successful garden. It was a great way to introduce to our little one a bit more about gardening and the steps it takes for our plants to grow and thrive.
We went to the nursery and chose tomato plant starts, which is a seed that has already been planted in soil and sprouted…giving our tomato plant a head start. We chose Husky Cherry Red Tomatoes and Celebrity Tomatoes. The other materials needed are a 3 gallon plastic pot, a tomato cage and soil.
*Custom gardening apron can be ordered at Little Owly!
Once the pot was filled with soil, we planted our tomato plant and placed the tomato cage over it. Next, we watered our plant and placed our custom plant markers (you could order your own custom ones for your garden at Little Owly). We will be documenting our tomato plants growth and our little one will be part of the process from watching it grow, watering and harvesting tomatoes. It will be important to make sure our plant is getting the correct amount of water and that our cage provides proper support to grow taller.
The best part about this project will be once we have tomatoes that are ripe enough to be plucked off and enjoyed alone, in salads or used to make pizza!
This activity teaches little ones to care for their own plant and the benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables in a way that is fun and interactive. We can't wait to share with you how our tomato plants grow!
Planting Tomatoes - What You'll Need
- (2) 3 Gallon Black Resin Nursery Pot (we planted two types of tomato plants)
- (2) bags of All Purpose Garden Soil
- (2) 42 in. Heavy Duty Tomato Cage
- 1 Husky Cherry Red Tomato starter plant
- 1 Celebrity Tomato starter plant
- Plant Markers (we used our custom ones from Little Owly, but your little one can also use a popsicle stick and make their own)
- "We Are the Gardeners" book by Joanna Gaines
*We found all of the materials needed at HomeDepot.
Steps:
- Fill 3 gallon nursery pot about 3/4 full with all purpose garden soil.
- Place your tomato plant and then fill with more soil.
- Immediately after planting, water the plant and soil to help settle in.
- Place the tomato cage on top, making sure the pant is in the center.
- Place plant markers.
- Watch your tomatoes grow!
Have fun and share with us! #LOCreativeCircle #mylittleowly