Gardening is the perfect way to get kids excited about digging in the dirt.  There are so many great lessons that kids (and adults too) can learn in the garden.  Everything from how plants grow to patience and perseverance.  Last year the kids decided they wanted to earn some extra money to purchase a trampoline.  After some discussion on what they could do, they decided to try their hand at Starting Seeds and then selling the plants.
As parents we made the decision that we would not simply purchase larger items for our kids, but teach them how to earn the money to buy it on their own.  Teaching kids the value of money is so important.  It sounds crazy that 3 kids 5, 7 and 9 could earn enough money to purchase a trampoline all on their own.  However, with guidance, encouragement and a few frugal ideas they can do it!
This step is unnecessary if you are purchasing new seeds. Â
The kids found some seed packets in the basement and asked if they could have them.  Since I didn’t know how old the seed packets were, We decided to see if they would germinate before planting them.  The kids followed the same technique that we used in our Seed Sprouting Prediction experiment. Â
We lined the lid of a clear plastic bin with moist paper towels and lined up all the seeds on the paper towel. Â This was a bit of a slow process, but since the kids were putting more than one type of seeds in a bin we didn’t want a mix up.
I love these little decorative seed labels that Annika created, especially her little drawings.  She used permanent sharpie marker on a piece of Styrofoam meat tray.
Place another moist paper towel over the seeds. Â Spray the towel gently with water to keep everything moist. Â Place the upturned clear plastic bin onto the lid, creating a mini greenhouse
The above picture is on our Re-growing Celery post, but our seed greenhouse is constructed in the same way.  I love finding frugal solutions using items that we already have.  These little green houses work great, and I love that we did not have to purchase anything to make them.
Place your little green houses in a warm sunny location. Â Make sure you are checking on the seeds often so they don’t dry out. Â The kids sprayed them with water in the morning before school and then again when they got home from school.
Once the seeds started sprouting, the kids placed them into little Dixie cups.   They planted 2 seeds in each cup.  Make sure to poke a hole in the bottom of the cups for water drainage. The kids discovered this the hard way after a huge rain storm.  They were able to rescue all their little plants, but it was a bit of a mess.  Oh well, good lesson to learn for next time:)
I mentioned this was my kids project to work toward purchasing a trampoline.  I think when counted up they had over 1,000 plants to sell!  They were able to do most of the work, and I was surprised at how well everything grew for them.
Everyone so supportive of the kids.  They sold their plants to neighbors, friends, family and then finally they set up a little table at our garage sale. All the plants sold, which was incredible.
In the end after all the plant sold and a few of other money making ventures they were able to purchase the trampoline. Â There were so many skills the kids learned along the way that they never would have learned if we would have just bought the trampoline for them.
I would love to hear how you are encouraging your kids to earn money and any tips you have.
For more ways to encourage kids to garden, check out our:
How to Grow Sprouts on a Sponge
Great tip however do you know that you have all of your advertising set to continue covering what you write on your blog? At first I thought it was odd that it overlapped at the top, but it gets worse when it continues to pop on top of what you are trying to read as you scroll down.
Not trying to be critical but it’s super hard to read with your advertising and photos covering your great writing and tips.
KK
Sorry to hear your experiencing problems with my site, were you on a mobile device? I am currently working on getting a mobile site working, so it is a bit wonky. Hopefully soon it will be up and running. Currently the desk top version is the best place to find me:) Thanks for checking in!
Loved the site – no problems reading on my IPad
Nancy, Thanks for the encouragement:)
What a great idea!! We’ve started seeds from our own food to see what would happen but this is another fun idea to try this time of year! I’m really excited to have found your website!
Great idea!! I have 4 children that would love the idea on making a few dollars to be able to obtain a toy/prize. How much did you sell the plants for? And how long did it take for the plants to be ready to sell?
It’s amazing that your kids managed to raise that much money!! I’m sure they learnt many lessons along the way too. Great job!!
I think you did a wonderful job teaching them to work towards a larger goal with step building. It is amazing that they were able to almost pay for the trampoline with the seeds alone. Just a FYI to save even more money if you ever do something like this again… save you toilet paper and paper towel rolls (cut down to size. You can use them to put the seeds in, the bottom is open so the roots will have room to grow and they decompose so they don not have to be taken out of the roll. As far as the toilet paper is concerned, I don’t know anyone personally who doesn’t use it so maybe you could even have others help you collect rolls.