How do you grow a future gardener? How do you open a child’s eyes to the wonders of bringing a flower, plant or tree to thriving life? How do you encourage them to be good stewards of the Earth?
At Warner’s Nursery, the answer to those questions is “mud.”
Not just the messy, soft, wet earth that kids love playing in, but our own Mud Club, designed with the express purpose of instilling a love of horticulture in children.
We believe that through gardening we can teach so much: responsibility, patience, what it means to nurture, and the sweet reward of having something you care for coming to fruition.
The club includes both workshops (paired with fun, age-appropriate activities) to family friendly events, like our recent Easter Egg Hunt and Family Festival.
Here’s a sample of the upcoming classes and events we will be holding this spring:
- Insect-o-mania! (11 a.m., Saturday, April 9)
A lesson on friendly garden insects. As part of the workshop, kids will be making bug “hotels” to help attract pollinators and create a biodiverse garden.
- Keeping Our Oceans Clean (11 a.m., Saturday, April 23)
In honor of Earth Day, a lesson about pollution and how it affects our oceans, including a demonstration of what happens to water when we throw trash in it and how to sort trash and recyclables.
- Pressed Plants/Mother’s Day Gift (11 a.m., Saturday, May 7)
We’ll collect flowers and other pretty greens from the Warner gardens and then create beautiful pressed flower bookmarks or window displays.
- Seedling Initials (11 a.m., Saturday, May 21)
In addition to learning about the stages of seed growth and proper care of seeds, children will be planting seeds in the shape of their initials.
- Painting with Nature! (11 a.m., Saturday, June 4)
After scavenging for different materials like leaves, sticks, pinecones and flowers, children will paint masterpieces using their gathered materials as brushes and stamps.
Most Mud Club events take place on Saturdays and are either free or have a small fee (typically $5) to pay for materials used in the activities. You can find out more about the Mud Club on our website at warnercompanies.com.
The Mud Club is not the only way Warner’s is reaching out to grow future gardeners.
We are active with STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) projects for science classes at Sinagua Middle School, and make presentations to other schools as well. We offer field trips to our gardens for students, and we have just started with Big Brothers Big Sisters to do some garden beautification projects with some of the “littles” at local schools.
If you would like to learn more about the Mud Club, our other activities for kids, or would like to have your class come to Warner’s for a fun and informative botanical field trip, please visit the nursery or give us a call at 928-774-1983.
Happy Gardening!
By Misti Warner