9 ways to reuse bottles and containers in the garden

Recycling makes great sense - not only is it all about making something for nothing, it prevents waste. The Fairy is regularly reminding me to 'reduce, reuse, recycle' (a lesson she has learnt from watching Bob the builder!). Too be honest, I'm not as good at recycling/ reusing as I could be (hence the reminders). So we've been trying extra hard to recycle and reuse things this month.

We made some mini green houses to keep our seedling sunflowers warm. I cut the bottom off - volia a tiny green house for free. Perfect for places too small for a real glass house.

We found some great ideas from other kids bloggers too,

What we do all day has some fab vegetable pots made from old containers. I love that they have a window so you can see the plants growing.

Teach beside me show how to make an elephant watering can - watering will never be boring again!

Playing in the garden is such fun. How about some pretend play with these juice cartoon houses from Red Ted Art- they are super cute.

Or scoops for the sand pit from Picklebums

Why not get active with a game of skittles from Domestic Goddesque.

Or milk bottle tennis rackets from Laughing Kids Learn.

I love this water wall from Sun Hats and Wellie Boots - it looks great fun.

Or how about a sprinkler from Housing a Forest.

Gardening in small spaces

Do you only have a small space where you can grow things? Never fear - growing things is still possible! We are very lucky to have an allotment but we also grow plants and vegetables on our balcony. Infact our crops on our balcony are often more successful on our balcony  than at the allotment as there are no slugs or rabbits to eat the plants.

This year we are growing sun flowers, tomatoes and strawberries. These all grow well in pots so are perfect for our balcony

Gardening provides a great opportunity for talking about what you are doing- digging, watering.

Talking about the difference between seeds and plants.

Looking at roots and talking about how plants drink.

Even if you don't have a balcony you can try growing some plants on a window sill.

We are part of :

*   The Usual Mayhem   *   Child Central Station   *   Housing a Forest   *   Rainy Day Mum   *   Growing Green Fingered Kids   *   Nature and Play   *   Fantastic Fun and Learning   *   Kitchen Counter Chronicles   *   Teach Preschool   *   The Educators' Spin On It   *   Kindergarten and Preschool for Parents and Teachers   *   The Fairy and the Frog   *   Let The Children Play   *   Little Illuminations   *   Early Play Outdoors   *   52 Days to Explore   *   Music Sparks   *   Milk and Cuddles   *   Teach Beside Me   *   The Pleasantest Thing   *   Making Boys Men   *   I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here   *

Small world jungle play

I love how sometimes the simplest play ideas are the best. Yesterday we went to the allotment and 'The fairy' wanted to bring her new toy giraffe (she was very proud as she got it as a reward for getting stickers on her sticker chart).

 Soon her imagination was at work, she pretended the garlic was a 'jungle'

She decided he needed a house so set about work collecting stones to make one.

Then he needed a bed (apparently giraffes like to sleep on grass and dandelions).

Language Focus
Vocabulary: giraffe, house, live, sleep, eat, tall
Play skills: imaginative play is a very important stage in language development.

When is a wooden spoon not a wooden spoon?

When its a plant marker of course! 'The fairy' had been watching me make some plant markers out of wooden spoons and decided she wanted to make one too (I'm in the process of creating a play garden for her at our allotment, but that's a whole other post...hopefully I'll update here when there is more progress). 


The ones I made

Her much more creative one (painted to be a purple flower)

I helped by holding the spoon as she painted.

We then left the flower in a glass to dry (after 'The fairy' had painted her hands!)

Now we just need to varnish and plant it

Language Focus

Vocab: paint, brush, flower