School Garden Box Makeover

So what do you do when your son's classroom garden box looks like this? 

Well, give it a makeover of course! His teacher had just taken over this room, complete with unloved garden box, so we set about giving it a mini garden makeover! The first thing we did was to weed it, and then add in a whole lot of soil conditioner, so the new plants would have a chance of survival. Once the wood surrounding the top of the box was replaced and painted a vibrant green, it began to look brighter.  We added the fencing, which the students painted red, and attached it to the back of the box.

Here's how it looked once the box was finished, and the students had added the first few plants:

The students each painted one of the butterflies which are glued to the fence, and we added a double-sided sign in the middle - the class has the Hungry Caterpillar theme, so we went with painted saucers to make a caterpillar on each side, and attached them with liquid nails.  By the end of the year, there was quite the array of plants blooming (including some California poppies which apparently liked their new environment).  We even had cherry tomatoes for the students to sample.  Now wouldn't it have been nice if I had remembered to take a picture once it was more mature?! Oh well, you'll just have to use your imaginations... 

Healthy Body, Healthy Me!

My first TpT product which went on sale was my Healthy Body, Healthy Me! packet, all about the five food groups, choosing a healthy plate of food, and following healthy habits.  I am working on some new products right now, but I decided it was time for the first one to have a bit of an overhaul.  I have learned a lot of things since I first posted this original product, and hopefully the update benefited!


Here's a quick peek at just some of the content included in the new version:

Enjoy the changes! And if you haven't bought it yet - you can pick up a copy here:

Healthy Body, Healthy Me! A Food Groups, Nutrition, and Healthy Habits Unit

Animal Fact Files & Research Report Templates

It's hard when you are trying to build up your library with enough books for students to read, and also use for reports.  Of course these days the internet has put a new spin on research reports, but that's only if you are lucky enough to have access to good technology.  Anyway, this was the thinking behind this new product I made.  I decided to make a packet where I could assign students an animal research report and also give them a pre-made fact sheet with basic information and some fast facts to get started.  I made some templates and organizers for them to use to gather and sort their information.  Here's how the sample turned out.  Hopefully the finished reports will be cute too!

Animal Research Reports

You can pick it up now on TpT:

Animal Fact Files and Research Reports