FUN FALL FAMILY ACTIVITIES

Kids love to dig in the dirt. Why fight it? Get them outside, where they have fun and learn at the same time.

Yardwork and gardening are great ways to teach lessons such as environmental awareness, the workings of nature, and have a few good doses of old-fashioned fun.

       

Yup, Fall can be a great time for families to bond outdoors. Doesn't seem that long ago I was that kid doubling over from side aches after trying to rake the World's Largest Leaf Pile...and we don't even want to begin to count how many years it really was! And who could forget the pure joy of plopping beside my brother in the fluffly heap, sinking deep into the leaves, breathing in the ancient, earthy scent of autumn.

No trees in your backyard?

Planting is another magical seasonal activity. Fall is the season to plant spring-blooming flower bulbs.

Easy Bulbs for Spring Flowers

Tulips, daffodils and other flower bulbs are among the easiest plants for beginners, including children, to grow successfully.

Unlike seeds bulbs are not dormant. That’s good news! It means they are practically guaranteed to grow if you can find the time to put them in the ground in the fall. (Trust me, I know all about those rotten bulbs that never see the dirt and instead hide in the back of the garage for two years and turn to stinky brown soup.)

Slice open a hyacinth bulb, for example, and your child can see the "baby flower" in the middle, just waiting to burst forth in the spring.

Bulbs are planted in two ways: tossed in a shallow trench, or placed individually or in small groups in small holes.

Trench plantings are an easy way to create flower patterns. You could, for example, make a crazy quilt pattern of colors or write your children's names in different colored crocuses or tulips.

"Naturalizing" is an easy technique that uses the small hole approach. As a design style, naturalized bulbs are meant to look as if nature planted them.

Children can have a lot of fun with naturalizing, because the best way to get that "natural" look is to grab handfuls of bulbs, toss them out on the yard and plant them where they fall. And don’t worry, they will grow right through the grass even if you are too busy to mow.

Another big plus is that everyone would know where the "Smith Family" lived if it were spelled out on the lawn in yellow crocuses. Think how easy it would be to you’re your children’s new friends directions to your house!

Indoor Fall Gardening Projects

Another neat thing about bulbs that kids love is their ability to be fooled or "forced" into flower during the winter. Bulb forcing is a both a fun activity for a rainy day, and chance for kids to see very quickly what their spring garden will look like.

One of the best bulbs to plant is Paperwhites. They also make wonderful "hand-made" gifts from children to grandma, teachers and others. And if you purchase a kit from EasyGrowBulbs.com, 15% of the price will be donated to  Press On: The Patrick R. Chance Fund for Neuorblastoma Research to congquer childhood cancer. Just type "PATRICK" into the Discount Code/Speccial Offers field as you check and 15% of your purchase will be donated to the

These bulbs should flower in about six weeks. They can be bought separately or in kits, often in displays that include pots, soil and everything you need including easy instructions. Look for them in supermarkets, home stores, garden centers and in many mailorder catalogues.

The first bulbs can be brought to flower in time for the December holidays. And with just a little planning and watering (yeah, that’s the hard part!) a child can keep his indoor bulb garden in bloom all winter long.

In the end, fall is only the beginning of gardening as a family activity. BulbProject’s site has lots of kid friendly garden activities.

Come spring, while you are enjoying the flowery fruits of your fall labor, it will be time to plan the summer vegetable and flower gardens. For the children, there are more long-term benefits.

The famous English gardener Gertrude Jekyll, thinking back to her own youth, wrote that she thought at that time there were ". . .only two types of people in the world — children and grown-ups, — and that the world really belonged to children. And I think it is because I have been more or less a gardener all my life that I still feel like a child in many ways. . ."