Ready, Set… Start Growing!
By: Hella Rumschlag, Youth Services Assistant
Early April is too early to put plants in the ground in central Indiana, but it’s never too early to start planning and dreaming of that bountiful summer garden. Imagine ripe, red tomatoes; crisp, green peppers; and sweet, juicy watermelon in your own backyard! Whether you grow your crops in containers on your deck or plant a full array of flowers and vegetables in a well-organized plot, gardening is a wonderful activity for the whole family. Even very young children can help water plants and feel the pride of accomplishment when it’s time to harvest. Along the way, your little gardeners will experience the responsibility of taking care of living things, delight in progress while dealing with setbacks, and learn that good things take time.
Whether your child is a preschooler, just learning that plants grow from seeds, or a more experienced gardener ready for an additional challenge, the library has a variety of digital resources to make learning about gardening fun!
- Introduce the concept of gardening with the animated book Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert, in Book Flix. Follow up with And Then It’s Spring, by Julie Fogliano, a sweet, gentle story about a boy who must wait patiently for his seeds to start growing. In Book Flix, each animated fiction book is paired with a related nonfiction read-along book for further information about the topic.
- Children between one and four years old will enjoy the beautiful photos of plants and animals in the ebook Look and Learn: In My Garden, which you can find in National Geographic Kids.
- For downloadable ebooks with colorful photos of children working in their gardens, search the library catalog for Planting by Rebecca Pettiford, Planting a Garden by Megan Gaertner, and Planting a Garden in Spring by Jenna Lee Gleisner.
- In World Book – Kids, a search for gardening brings up an article with a brief video by a master gardener and a diagram for planning a vegetable garden.
- Search for gardens in World Book – Activity Corner for a list of garden-related activities. What if you grew a vegetable in a bottle? Or what if you grew an herb garden or a garden from foods you find in your kitchen?
- In Power Knowledge Science Suite, intended for children in grades 3–6, select Plants from the yellow menu on the left to find articles such as “How Flowers Grow” and “How Vegetables Grow.” There’s also a link for “Science Fair Projects and Experiments” with garden-themed activities for young scientists who are ready to take it to the next level.
The databases linked above may also be accessed from the library’s homepage in the section titled “Educational Resources.” In the HEPL App, you can find them by tapping “Research Tools.” If you don’t have a library card yet, click the link on the homepage to apply online for instant access to our digital collections. For assistance with these resources, please complete the “Ask a Librarian” form on the homepage. The library is here for you!
Happy Gardening!