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Welcome 5
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Lecture1.1
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Lecture1.2
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Lecture1.3
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Lecture1.4
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Lecture1.5
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Module 1: Math Gardens that Feed 7
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Lecture2.1
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Lecture2.2
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Lecture2.3
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Lecture2.4
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Lecture2.5
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Lecture2.6
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Lecture2.7
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Module 2: Math Gardens as Outdoor Learning Stations 8
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Lecture3.1
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Lecture3.2
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Lecture3.3
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Lecture3.4
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Lecture3.5
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Lecture3.6
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Lecture3.7
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Lecture3.8
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Module 3: Math Gardens that Attract Wildlife 6
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Lecture4.1
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Lecture4.2
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Lecture4.3
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Lecture4.4
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Lecture4.5
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Lecture4.6
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Module 4: Math Gardens for Art and Beauty 7
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Lecture5.1
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Lecture5.2
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Lecture5.3
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Lecture5.4
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Lecture5.5
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Lecture5.6
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Lecture5.7
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32 Comments
I love this idea of miniature gardens! I’m an avid collector of loose parts. I’ve always collected objects from nature to use in my kids indoors and out. Now finally others are beginning to see how wonderful all of these little things found in nature are. I’m going to set up a little miniature garden as inspiration for the kids as well as help them gather materials of their own and see where their imaginations take them!
Yea YOU!!
My favorite time activities always involve the children and their shadows there are endless possibilities to help them discover math and time concepts.
I never thought about having miniature gardens in flower pots or raised containers.
Yea!!
Loose parts in a daycare, finally somebody made my dream come true and told me what to do to get rid of these things. Loose parts garden here we come.
Laughing out loud!!!
I love the idea with the mini gardens, since we don’t have a garden in our play yard, this would a nice way to engage children and create our own garden.
There is always a way!
I’m a queen of loose parts. I have become a serious collector. My garage is filled with loose parts (large and small). All our gardening tools have had to find new homes to make room for my loose parts. I was never a hoarder prior to August 2018 when I started including loose parts into my workshops. Much to my husband’s dismay!!!
I love the idea of the can people. I have the cans. Now I need to create my own miniature garden people. I’m thrilled by the idea of using loose parts to make a fairy miniature garden.
Oh my goodness…what fun. I would love to see a picture of all your loose parts!
I love the idea of anything miniature. We often do play invitations similar inside or on a table but have done “fairy houses” in the past. We have a small area off of our classroom porch that typically has herbs but adding a miniature garden in there would be perfect. I also really like the idea putting them in a large planter. I currently have two playgrounds, a smaller yard where the “garden” is and a larger yard that we spend the majority of our time in but it doesn’t really have a place for a garden. Using the buckets or planters in that area would be really fun for the kids.
Fantastic!! Love to see pictures if you have. 🙂
These miniature gardens remind me so much of a Fairy Garden my daughter and I made years ago. She had a lot of fun imagining the fairies that lived there and making up adventures they got into.
I would like to create my own miniature garden and then show the children via Zoom session while encouraging them to make their own and send in pictures that we can share. Perhaps we can build some literacy into the project through creating stories with our gardens. I like this idea because I think it would be a connection with each other right now. I am thinking you could change your miniature garden a little and then change your sign to ask a different question or add different numbers or shapes to the design.
When we get back to school we could create more gardens connecting our time apart with our new time together.
I love this!! Great ideas are flowing. Keep thinking out of the box like this…it will do wonders for both you and your children.
I love the idea of miniatures being from loose parts. The problem with fairy gardens is the add-on cost a fortune. If the design is too perfect, then it’s not really hands on or a learning station. With little ones, we have to accept the fact that it’s not going to look like we set it up at the end of the day and that’s OK. We will find those toy dinosaurs all over the playground and maybe in someone’s pocket. If you can’t manipulate the garden, it shouldn’t be there.
Maybe just use natures loose parts to start with, then it will not matter if they end up on the other side of the playground….and it’s FREE! You can organize the area as you would an indoor block area.
The miniature gardens are such a great idea! I could have my toddlers help get nature items to use in them and I could also find some manufactured loose parts to use in them. Maybe if we don’t get a chance to do the feeding garden in the raised flower bed this year then I could use it for a miniature garden instead so I can at least have a start to the garden.
Great thinking out of the box!!! Adapting and creating new experiences under the circumstances. Well done!
This is great! You had asked me earlier if I could introduce these ideas to the children now. Actually yes, we are doing remote learning – I could easily introduce this mini garden idea with the examples and ask the children to try and create with their parents. If I receive any photos of one, I will be sure to share with you!
So much fun! Kids love these miniature gardens and I think it would be especially therapeutic for them to do now.
Loose parts are a big part of my curriculum, especially nature items. I often use empty picture frames for the children to create a design or picture within using the loose parts. Taking this idea outdoors and placing the frame in the garden, then creating a design would be fun to try. I was reminded of fairy houses and fairy gardens with the miniature segments. Something I have been wanting to try with my students is create fairy houses & gardens within our school garden beds.
A much-loved activity for both adults and children!
I would love to try to have the students each create their own miniature garden, perhaps in an 6×6″ framed structure, using such items as pebbles, wood cookies, moss, fake flowers, sticks. I don’t think they would need much direction other then to “create” their own miniature garden.
OH my goodness…this would be so much fun! And yes…I don’t think it would be very difficult.
I love these miniature gardens! While watching the videos I was thinking of how my students so often have indoor recess. My thinking is that if we could create miniature gardens in small groups, then that could be something for the students to tend to during indoor recess. That way, they are still connecting with nature! I would most likely use flower pots for each garden. I could help the students to fill them with rocks on the very bottom, and then dirt as a base. We could collect natural loose parts such as rocks, pebbles, sticks, pinecones and more. We could also plant things in the miniature garden such as succulents or moss. We have miniature plastic animals that the students may enjoy playin with inside the miniature garden as well. We could incorporate counting with the natural and manufactured loose parts as well.
Another way that I could incorporate counting would be to have the students write about the steps that they took to create their garden. We could use ordinal numbers (First I…Second I…) to describe the steps. This form of informational writing would bring together science, math and writing into one!
Heather, I love all your ideas! I had never thought of doing miniature gardens inside during indoor recess. Kinda cool to think about. Wowza..the seeds of inspiration are growing!
Also love loose parts ! I have been collecting at home for a few months a lot of items and can’t wait to bring in and share with kids. I have to keep expanding my storage ideas for them as i just keep collecting more . Love to recycle!
Yup! Storage is key. I can’t wait to see what you do with it all. Please post pictures. Let the counting begin!
I love miniature gardens! Its like creating little houses and play habitats outdoors. A few years ago we made transportable fairy gardens which the kids vey much enjoyed. Can’t wait to create and make some small gardens and spaces to play!
Oh my goodness, I love the idea of transportable fairy gardens! What did you put them in? 🙂 Fun!
I love min8ture gardens. Hope to incorporate them more in our new space. Currently we are in shared space and the nonlearning center do not always respect our stuff. Lots of damage to garden things over the years.
So sorry to hear that. It will be wonderful to have your own space.