Plants And Gardening | ViveVita

We had a brief warm spell here in the Carolinas recently. I like to take advantage of the break in weather whenever we get a chance.

Some ideas for activities for children if you have a brief warm spell include:

1) Going for walks! This is my favorite. Our street is a mile long and we have a great sidewalk to keep it safe. The walk is pleasant and trees over-arch the street from both sides making nice shade, even for the hot sunny days. The tree canopy is high enough to allow breezes so it always feels just about perfect.

2) Grilling dinner. We give the children (or teams of two or three) each a different focus. The oldest is now 13, so grilling is on the menu for any teenager! This is a pastime I love to share.

3) Washing the cars. Our conversion van is nearly 9′ high, so it does not fit in most automated car washes. But it is great fun for the kids and helps us all learn responsibility and how to take care of things God has given us.

4) Pets. For us pets now means chickens. We are learning all about egg-layers and how to feed and care for them. Warm weather is a great time to do this.

Muddy girl with bike

5) Gardening. Even in the ‘winter’ (it does not typically get down to freezing much here in Charlotte so things stay pretty green) we can do some weeding and prepping for spring as well as picking up sticks off the lawn.

Girl in Garden with Banana Tree

6) Sports. Although I currently have a broken toe and am sidelined until it heals, we normally like to kick around a soccer ball or ride bikes.

7) Fire pit. If it is dry enough and we can get chores done early enough and plan ahead, it is always fun to roast some marshmallows over the fire pit.

Girl with multiple hula hoops

Girl with many hulahoops

8) Go to the park. Frisbee, hoola-hoops, festivals, carnivals, outdoor concerts or just plain playing in the sand.

9) Just plain old hanging around and chillin’. Nothing is better than crashing out after a hard day at play!

Little boy crashed out sleeping

Happy Mother’s Day! (by Dave)

We’ve had incredibly good weather in Charlotte this weekend, being in the low 70′s yesterday and mid-to-high 60′s today.

Robyn asked the children to help her replant her “Mother’s Day Garden”, an old tiered fountain. The fountain was a maintenance nightmare so she turned it into a colorful cactus, plant, and flower garden with cascading greenery (very fun and creative). The little ones also helped us weed and straighten the planting beds around the house, which was no small chore given our month-long absence in April for our trip North.

While we usually get some moans of discomfort from some of the kids when gardening, a few bucks bought several pair of cotton gardening gloves in different colors and patterns, and helped facilitate our young troop to overcome their biggest complaint and apprehension: hurting hands.

I am not sure why we have not done this a long time ago. I know from my professional life that the best way to encourage an employee to do a job is to facilitate them in performing their duties and keep the task moving so they can recognize visible, tangible results. That is what the simple addition of garden gloves did for our little tigers, plus the variety of styles threw in a fun and personalized element for each of them. We had a great day and were able to clean up all but the blueberry garden (which is a fun chore we saved for another day).

Bells–recently bought some nicely toned silvery brass bells. Thinking of mounting one in the garden so Robyn and the children can play with it.

Tag Archives: Plants and Gardening

Activities for Children–warm weather

Mother’s Day, Garden Gloves, and Facilitating Your Team