Monday made: Reusing egg trays

Hello hello!  The weather has been really hot over here, and Junior J has been helping me to water the plants everyday.  Recently, we decided that we would grow some green beans so that he could care for his very own plants.  So I gave him a pot of soil, and a plastic egg tray, and guided him to scoop soil into each compartment, and let him carefully place a few green beans into each section (he got really excited and tipped too many, but I just had to take away some!).

So its been a week since he's planted them, and the beans have already germinated and have started growing (though they are pretty scraggly since they are in the shade, I've gotta find a sunnier spot for them I guess!):

Then the boy has been starting to pick up verbs like "pour" and "hang" so I thought I'd make a little sign for his mini-garden, using corrugated cardboard, and wrapped in plastic cut from a clear-holder to protect it from over-enthusiastic watering from little hands:

Supplies used: Corrugated cardboard (Daiso)
Construction paper and ice-cream stick (Popular)
Lettering (AC Remarks)

So here it is, our very own beany garden!

What I liked about this activity was that it helps Junior J to learn how to be responsible for caring for living things, in this case, plants, while also fine-tuning fine motor skills like scooping, pouring and picking up small objects (beans).

Some tips:
1. Use only the plastic trays, as the cardboard version will get soggy with watering.  Added advantages of using these plastic ones are that as the beans grow bigger, you'll be able to see the roots growing since the plastic is clear!

2. Use a toothpick and poke holes into the base of each compartment, which will allow water to drain.  Kids get really excited and tend to drown the beans in water, and you don't want waterlogged soil!   Cut the cover of the tray, and reuse it by placing it beneath the tray to catch the excess water, and periodically clear this to prevent your garden from breeding mosquitoes.

3.  Plant only about 3 seeds/beans per compartment to prevent overcrowding.

4. You can get your kids to plant one compartment a day, so that you can see the seedlings all at various stages of growth, all at one glance!  Alternatively, plant different seeds in different compartments and make labels for the compartments so that you know which is which.

5. Other uses for plastic egg trays include reusing them as paint palettes, or as a tool for sorting activities. The cardboard version can be used for craftwork to make animals like caterpillars!

How do you reuse your egg trays?