Gardening Wizardry for Kids: Green Thumb Magic for the Great Indoors is a fun book for children and parents alike. Teachers will also find lots of fun growing experiments and food lore they can use in their classrooms.
The legends and histories behind different foods are fascinating. Did you know that in the Middle Ages magicians put celery seeds in their shoes, hoping it would help them fly? Or that there are more pictures of onions on Ancient Egyptian tombs than any other plant? Or that the soldiers inside the Trojan horse ate carrots before getting in the horse to keep their stomachs from rumbling.
You don’t need a big garden, or even a yard to use this book. All of the experiments can take place in very small areas, like a windowsill. You’ll learn how to grow plants from lemon and orange seeds, from the pit of a mango, and an avocado. Instructions for all sorts of experiments are included: evaluating different types of soil, growing beans in salted earth, Kids will learn about taproots, planting depth, and sunlight, temperature and moisture needs. Many of the experiments would make great science projects. There are even directions for rasiing earthworms, pill bugs, and snails along with project ideas for testing food preferences and ages.
Herbs and herblore get their own section in Gardening Wizardry for Kids. Traditional uses and myths surrounded the herbs are covered, along with easy to follow instructions for how to grow the plants from seeds or cuttings. The book suggests all sorts of modern uses for herbs.
The book ends with easy plant craft projects like corncob dolls and making potpourri.
I’d recommend this fun book to children with interests in growing things and to adults who would like to encourage that same interest, or anyone looking for some unique science project ideas. It’s over 200 pages long and is filled with colorful and interesting illustrations.
Also See:
Smash It! Crash It! Crunch It! – Rain Newcomb & Bobby Mercer
Snowball Launchers, Giant-Pumpkin Growers, and Other Cool Contraptions – Tom Fox
Kid’s Pumpkin Projects – Deanna F. Cook