Making an Easter Tree helped my boys to learn about the seasons, says Katherine Miller
It was not long into the new year before my 4-year-old started to ask how many sleeps to go before Christmas! Thankfully we have lots of spring birthdays and school holidays to help him break down the year into tangible chunks, but for most young children, grasping the concept of time is hard. One useful way to get over this, is to use seasons to explain how long things will take. I explained the life cycle of a deciduous tree in our garden. This took him up to winter.
Also, we planted some sunflower seeds and talked about how tall they would have to grow before even the summer has ended.
It turns out that he was just a bit sad about packing the Christmas decorations away, so for his benefit, we have made him an Easter tree. This will be our table centre piece during the school holidays, and he can load it with all manner of homemade decorations and chocolate eggs.
“Everyone has to have a birthday before it’s Christmas again” reported my 7-year-old – a succinct explanation, and a fine example of me being shown up by a child.
The counting down of days until their birthdays has kept them occupied all winter. However, some of us are not so keen about being another year older. Grandad had to convince the children that it would not be necessary to cram 70-odd candles on his cake this year. And I’m not leaping out of bed every morning, counting the sleeps to my birthday either, despite enjoying the ever changing seasons outside…
How to make an Easter Tree
Paint it
To make our Easter tree we used a bright blue pot with a saucer and we found a large twig that looked like a tree. We secured the twig in the base of the pot with gravel, leaving room for compost. Then,protecting the pot with newspaper, the twig was painted white.
Plant it
We chose yellow pansies to plant around the base of the twig, a nice contrast against the blue pot. We watered the plants first and teased out the roots to help them establish then filled in the gaps between the plants with compost.
Decorate it
When the paint had dried, the children hung Easter decorations and chocolate eggs from the branches of the tree. I don’t know how long will the ‘fruits’on our Easter tree will last…
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Here at Amateur Gardening magazine we love to see your creations, why not send us your pictures to our usual email address.. amateurgardening@timeinc.com