Garden Unit: Day 2 Tools and Materials List

Garden Unit: Day 2

Tools and Materials List

      For the second day of our gardening unit, we learned about the tools we were going to use to garden.  This day took longer then an hour, because of my mini-field trip.  However, the field trip is not a requirement for the activity. To make this day more fun, we decided to do a mini “field trip” to the home improvement store.  I had set a little budget for a set of tools for my son.  He was excited to have his “own” garden tool set and was more interested in learning everything about the garden aisles in the store (even if it was not related to our home garden).  As we walked around the home Improvement store, we went down our list as I introduced each of the items and handed the item to my son.  He was able to feel and see how the tools are used.  Of course, I also let him choose some of the tools he wanted to buy. I attached a list of some of the basic information that we talked about as well as the tools my son evaluated.  I think learning about the tools is very important for the safety of
younger children to understand these items are not toys and should be handled carefully. Some of the items on our materials list, you may not need or want to use.  It is more about personal preference.

This is some of the basic information, I provided to my son as he was evaluating the tools. 

Hand shovel	·      Used to dig holes ·      Used to mix the soil/fertilizer
Hoe	·      Used to make a row for sowing seeds ·      Can help cut the weeds out ·      Not a toy, and should be used appropriately
Watering can	·      Used to provide water for the garden ·      Fill the watering can with water
Rake	·      Used to mix the soil/fertilizer ·      Used to clear away unwanted weeds and rocks
Seeds	·      Seeds to be planted in soil to create vegetables/fruits/herbs/flowers
Soil	·      Good soil to help the seeds grow ·      Caution: not human food
Fertilizer	·      Nutrients for the seeds to grow ·      Caution: not human food
Pots/ planter boxes	·      Area the garden will be located ·      Many different shapes and sizes
Hose	·      Provides water for the watering can ·      Caution: remind about water conservation and not to waste extra water during a drought
Garden gloves	·      To protect hands
Garden identification spikes	·      To identify the plants ·      Caution: Spikes are sharp, remind about safety when handling sharp objects

After our “field trip,” we created a matching tool game with a few of the items for fun (there is a link below to download and print).  We cut the cards and placed all of them faced down in rows.  The object of this task was to memorize the tool from the name.  He had to flip over two cards at a time, and match the picture with the name of the item.  If the cards did not match, he had to put them back faced down.  If the cards matched, then he placed the pair off to the side.  All the cards need to be matched before our lesson was complete for the day.

Matching Card Game: 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By0QNYgSFLFKTzhTVk1HRGtkN3M
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By0QNYgSFLFKMG4zSFhJSllVUWc