Comments | gardening: Plant identification for kids?

skurviee in gardening

Plant identification for kids?

Jan 24, 2010 12:57

I am having a hard time finding a plant identification book to use with my 2 1/2 year old son. It doesn't have to be aimed at 2 years old directly, I just want something with pictures and basic information on the plants.

Any ideas or suggestions?

plant id, books

Comments 15

jenstclair January 24 2010, 19:06:14 UTC

Someone on etsy has very cute wooden tree/flower identifying blocks, like you could play a memory game type of thing. Let me see if I can find it.

Here it is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/thewhimsytree

It's not a book, but I thought they were cute.

angelchrome January 24 2010, 20:40:36 UTC

That's completely wonderful.

jenstclair January 25 2010, 00:24:00 UTC

I think I might buy some for my niece when she gets a bit older! :)

skurviee January 24 2010, 21:31:22 UTC

I love it!
Those are pretty amazing, thank you.

Thread 5

grin_bear January 24 2010, 19:09:40 UTC

Out of curiosity I poked around on Amazon.com and found this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0789422131?ie=UTF8&tag=kaasbaichtalshom&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0789422131... )

skurviee January 24 2010, 21:33:22 UTC

I guess I just wasn't using the right keywords, thank you!

I can not wait until spring, we are going to garden and explore the outdoors as much as possible. :)

briar_witch January 24 2010, 20:12:07 UTC

I found a couple of items that may prove useful, though I personally have not used them so I don't know how good or bad they may be. They may end up being not quite what you're looking for, but I thought I'd toss them out as suggestions anyway.

This first one is a game based on wildcrafting and presumedly has pictures of various wild plants:
http://www.amazon.com/Wildcraft-An-Herbal-Adventure-Game/dp/B001LNKSAC/ref=pd_sim_b_6

This second one is based upon introducing your child to herbal plants. I don't know what your focus is, plant-wise, with your son, so I'm tossing it in as a suggestion:
http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Herb-Book-Lesley-Tierra/dp/1885003366/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264363237&sr=1-3

skurviee January 24 2010, 21:39:37 UTC

Thank you! I think a game is an excellent idea. :)

I actually hadn't thought of herbs, but now that you mention it I think that is a great idea as well. Thank you so much!

americanmutt January 24 2010, 21:34:43 UTC

This isn't entirely what you asked for but I want to do the same thing for my Son and for myself ( ... )

skurviee January 24 2010, 21:44:46 UTC

We are spending the next year with my parents while my husband is deployed which means we have a huge yard in which to plant a garden and we were just going over the other day what we wanted to grow. I really really like the idea of taking him to the grocery store and naming all the plants.
We will also be about an hour from DC and they have a free botanical garden there that I have been wanting to check out.

I love these ideas, thank you!

zakhele January 25 2010, 04:06:18 UTC

I second these ideas. I think the hands on, just getting out and exploring, and showing kids is the best way to do it.

My nephew is 3.5 and he's learned a lot of plants just by working with my father and I in our garden. Then, my sister (his mother) is an entomologist and just shows him insects in their daily lives and he learns them. He probably knew the common names of more insects by the time he was 3 than most adults.

skurviee January 25 2010, 04:11:24 UTC

I definitely agree that he learns best hands on, I learn better from a book, and I happen to really love books, a lot. haha.
I guess I am just looking for a book that we can both sit down and look through together when either we can't get out of the house or we see something I don't recognize, because this is all going to be a new learning experience for me too (and I want him to know how to look something up in a book rather than relying on the internet for everything, know what I mean?).

wowomom January 25 2010, 15:21:09 UTC

This is sort of going in a different direction, but my husband and I recently bought the CAMP Board Game to play with our kids. It's not specifically plants but it does touch on most outdoors stuff. There are 4 different levels that can all play at the same time, my girls (ages 2 and 4) play at level one, questions like "What are baby dogs called?" and animal identification (picture of a squirrel "What animal is this?" A)rabbit B) deer C) squirrel D)chipmunk) My husband plays level 3 and I play level 4 (What directs the growth of roots in a plant A) water B) nutrients etc ( ... )

skurviee January 25 2010, 15:31:40 UTC

That is such a great idea! I can't believe that I forgot all about boardgames until this post. This game should be helpful too because we have many plans of camping this summer as well. :)

Wow, thank you! I just read your comment to my mom and actually started to tear up. It is so nice to hear things like that. Thank you. :D