A Garden in January

At any given moment, my daughter views life in one of two seasons. It is either a "grass time" or "snow time".  Although it is still January, there is not much snow on the ground right now...just patches of accumulated drifts or plow piles here and there that have all but dwindled entirely. 

With melting snow comes excitement and anticipation of the looming springtime.  [Or "grass time", as my sweet girl would say...] And my children have begun preparing for warmer weather. 

This is our paper garden:

Our paper garden, from left to right they planted: apples, watermelon, cauliflower, cantaloupe, bananas, and broccoli.

Complete with a variety of fruits and vegetables, this little plot has yielded many a crop to my imaginative little ones.  Occasionally I am offered a half a watermelon, or maybe a head of cauliflower.  A tiny hand extends to me what would appear to be nothing, but is indeed a very thoughtful gift, and I bend down and nibble the invisible food "Mmmm"-ing and "Ahhhhh"-ing until those innocent faces are beaming with pride.  I can hardly wait to see their excitement when we plant our real seeds this "grass time"! 

My son used a ruler to draw rows to plant his harvest in.  He chose which plants to sow and cut out his own shapes from construction paper, and then glued his plants in the rows. 

After each row was "planted", he created a dimensional label for that row, marking what food had been planted there. 

So, if you need a project to keep your little ones busy while they are cooped up in "snow time"...maybe try planting a paper garden and have some fun pretending its "grass time".