Farming With Folk Tales

Length: Approximately 30 minutes

Description: This family program is part story time, part introduction to gardening. We will read folk tales that involve planting seeds, then plant seeds of our own! Recommended for families with children ages 4-9.

Activity: The program starts with reading three fun folk tales:

• Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries

• The Little Red Hen

• Johnny Appleseed

Following the stories, families are invited to start seeds of their own. Two projects will be available, and families can choose one or both, depending on the age(s) of their children:

• Garden in a Glove

• Plastic Bottle Starter Pots

Time and supplies permitting, staff can allow participants to make multiple projects. For families who may want to learn more about gardening, staff should have books available for checking out. Additional folk tales and fairy tales can also be made available, along with any other books involving gardening and farming.

Supplies

• Books (indicated above)

• Disposable clear plastic gloves (1 per participant)

• Cotton balls (5 per participant)

• Seeds (at least 5 different kinds, enough so all participants can have a least a few of each)

• Permanent markers

• Twist ties (1 per participant)

• Empty and clean 2-liter plastic bottles (at least 1 per participant)

• Potting soil

• Cotton string

• Water

• Scissors

Modification of the Program: This program can be modified depending on available time. For a shorter program, read just one book (I recommend Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries) and complete the Gardening in a Glove activity. For a longer program, invite families to plant additional seeds or read additional books the library has on hand. If considerable additional time is available, consider holding a mini gardening lesson on composting, reducing and recycling, kitchen scrap gardening, or saving seeds.

Marketing: This program should be advertised in a library newsletter, on the library calendar, and with flyers posted within the library. Encourage library non-users to attend the program by also posting the flyer on community bulletin boards around town, such as in town hall, at local businesses, and local playgrounds, if available. If school is in session, partner with local schools to have the program flyer distributed to elementary students.

Sample Flyer

Supplemental information or sites: The Kids Gardening website is an amazing resource for information, lesson plans, and activities about gardening. It can be useful for brushing up on facts or creating an informational flyer for families to take home. To help determine which seeds would be best to plant, use a Growing Calendar.

Resources Used

Galdone, Paul. The Little Red Hen. HMH Books for Young Readers, 2011.

"Gardening with Kids: Garden in a Glove." The Full Circle Gardener, 25 April 2013, https://fullcirclegardener.blogspot.com/2013/04/gardening-with-kids-
garden-in-glove.html.

"Growing Calendar." Burpee, https://www.burpee.com/growingcalendar. Accessed 6 August 2020.

Kellogg, Steven. Johnny Appleseed. HarperCollins, 1988.

KidsGardening, https://kidsgardening.org/. Accessed 6 August 2020.

Seattle Sundries. "DIY Self-Watering Seed Starter Pot Planter." DIY How To Magazine, http://www.diyhowto.org/diy-self-watering-seed-starter-pot-planter/ .
Accessed 6 August 2020.

Teague, Mark. Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries. Orchard Books, 2017.

Graphics used in flyer courtesy of Adobe Spark.