Once Upon a Book ~ The Curious Garden & Jack’s Garden

 

The Curious Garden

by Peter Brown

 

Summary:  A curious boy named Liam explores his city and discovers a struggling garden located on an abandoned set of railroad tracks.  He adopts the garden, and with time and patience the garden grows and changes his entire city from a drab community to one full of color and beauty.  Liam shows how one person can make a difference.

AND

 

 

Jack’s Garden

by Henry Cole

 

Summary:  In this easy to read, multiple age level book, children learn how Jack’s garden grows.  From seed to plant, follow Jack as things blossom and grow and thus invite insects and birds to live in his garden habitat. 

Bible Verse

 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12: 1-2

Like Liam, our children can learn (as we teach them) to do everything for the Lord – even cleaning up toys or planting a garden.  And it is with God’s help, that they can learn to be different . . . and change their world for Christ!

 

Mixed Media Garden Flowers

 

We combined two crafts to create our Garden Flowers, from No Time For Flashcards and Everything Except the Grill.  I did this . . . because I am lazy.  Now, I would encourage you to let your children use their imagination.  I created guidelines and allowed them to accomplish the task.  I probably won’t frame their creations, BUT this was one of the most fun crafts we have done in a long time!

 

Supplies

• dandelions or garden flowers
• washable paint
• watercolor paper
• toilet paper rolls
• scissors
• glue
• tray or lid for paint
• markers

Directions

• I had the boys go and find their flowers (to create even more excitement for this craft, as they like to be hunters or detectives.)
• While they are doing this, cut the toilet paper rolls into 4 parts.  Snip vertically into the smaller rolls ONLY 1/2 way down.  Fold or fan out the cut “petals.”  See No More Flash Cards for further instructions.
• Have your child color the petals.

 

• Once completed, set your 3-D flower petals aside.
• With paint trays filled, have your child paint with the collected flower petals.  I would recommend smocks for this part of the craft! 

• When the painting is done, allow your child to dip the toilet paper flower petal base into a tray of glue.

 

• Attach the flower to the painting.

 

A Drab to Curiously Colorful Garden

 

Warning:  This craft should be done over two days . . . some Tots get tired.  (Not that I would have experienced that in my household!)

 

In the book, The Curious Garden, you will notice that the pictures change from brown and grey tones to bright pictures filled with all sorts of rainbow colors.  We attempted to mimic this for our Tot School.

 

Supplies

• paint, markers, or crayons
• Q-Tips (if your child is painting)
• 2 coloring pages of a garden printed on card stock.  (Ours are from Lucy Gardens, but you can find plenty by doing a search on Google.)  In hindsight, I wish I had used identical pintables to compare and contrast the difference in color once completed.

Directions

• Using markers or paint, allow your child to decorate the page with only black, grey, white, and muted green colors.

• After some time has elapsed (maybe a day), re-read The Curious Garden, and allow your child to color another picture using LOTS of colors.  Talk about which page they like better and why! 

 

Note:  My 5 year old colored this page, as I overwhelmed my Tot by doing too much at one time.

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)? Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!