Creativity in the garden

Children can get out and about learning creatively outside in the garden, even if it is just a backyard with a few planters, if they help to create and maintain the space it will become a place they can enjoy and learn in. When we were creating a learning garden in school we wanted to engage all the senses and asked advice from lots of people about the best plants to choose...here are a few ideas.
It is important to choose a variety of different types of plants for different sensory learning purposes:

Plants for smell

• Spring bulbs such as hyacinth, daffodils, crocus, tulip
• roses, sweet peas (very easy to grow) sweet Williams, pinks, lily of the valley, lilies
• herbs such as thyme, mint, curry plant, sage, verbena

Shrubs and plants that attract birds

• cotoneaster, pyracantha, holly (for the berries)
• honeysuckle, potted laurel, small conifers, viburnum
• ceanothus to provide cover and nesting sites

Plants that attract butterflies

• buddleia, hyssop, lavender, limnanthes, African marigolds

Fruit trees for blossom and fruit to attract bees

• apple, pear, plum, cherry, peach (all can be bought as dwarf trees)

Vegetable patch

• French beans, radish, runner beans, short carrots, spring onions, spinach, beet, turnips, potatoes...all of which can be grown in raised beds, containers or small spaces
• Tomatoes, peppers, beetroot, cabbage, lettuce (all can be grown in pots)
• Bean sprouts, mustard and cress, leaf radish (all can be grown on the window sill.

I would also recommend installing bird boxes, insect boxes and a hedgehog box ...you can often pick them up cheaply on the car boot.

Even the youngest toddlers can be encouraged to get involved in gardening and outdoor learning. Get them a small watering can and trowel and a piece of earth they can call their own and you may be starting them off on a very lucrative career, look at Alan Titchmarsh!

Create a nature picture using things found on a walk in the country side.
Using colour charts from the local DIY store set your children a challenge to find things in the garden/park that match the individual colours...it's harder than you think.