School Gardening Club.

emmahip

Don't know if you've seen the info about the free trees/hedging but your group would qualify I'm sure :-

Clicky

Hope this is of help! Not sure on gathering the other stuff but freecycle can sometimes provide.

Good luck!

moogiegirl

As a filler activity you could print some pictures of the plants you are growing and the chidren could colour these in and keep in a folder. Also could they grow indoor plants like spider plants which they could take home and look after.

flea72

i really wouldnt bother with buying gardening gloves for the kids. we had a few pairs when we started our school allotment, and i dont think any have been worn since the first week, as the fingers tend to be too long, so they cant do much when wearing them

its also a bit late in the season to be thinking about growing much outdoors, as tbh to keep children entertained they need quick growing things, which tend to be the summer salads and veg

its good to start the club now, as the children can then plan what they want to grow, and also its a good time to prepare the beds, by adding lots of nice manure (im sure the kids would love that) but tbh i would leave the outdoor growing until next spring

if you do want to grow something now, then as said above, i would be looking more at christmas/spring bulbs, and things that can be grown on windowcills, like cress and herbs. the only problem in a school though, is finding enough window cills to use, and keeping the kids away from them whilst they grow, as they have a habbit of being knocked over, or poked at (especially by those not involved in the garding club)

hth Flea

moogiegirl

You could buy a couple of avocados, show them to the children and let them have a bit to taste. Then place the cleaned seed over a bottle filled with water and watch it grow. Children would also enjoy painting their own flower pots and making seed cakes for the birds.

VickyA_2

The gardening club at my school has had loads of stuff donated to them by local businesses - mainly because one of the parents went in and spoke very nicely to them! The local Morrisons has a "community budget" and Homebase were generous too. Is there a garden centre close to your school?

prettypennies

I have spoken to staff in Homebase and B&Q but they would only offer the free advice leaflets. I am going to try writing to them though, so that I get to speak to the head honcho!