Saturday Playdate - Frugal Novice

Welcome to another fun Saturday Playdate! Today we're playing with Christi from Frugal Novice. I first came across Christi's blog from one of my favorite blog hops, Friendly Friday. Her blog started out with tips on how to live more frugally, but evolved into much more. She now writes about a variety of different topics, and posts some great product reviews and giveaways.

When you're done here, please check out Frugal Novice and leave Christi some comment love. Tell her you stopped by from the playdate.

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Hi! I’m Christi from Frugal Novice – thanks to LeeAnn for inviting me over for a play date! I have two little boys – one is 3 ½, and the other will be 2 in less than a month (I’m a little in denial about that fact)! I’m married to my high school sweetheart, Brian – we got married on our five year dating anniversary back in 2003 and as cliche as it may be to say, he truly is my best friend.

Since Earth Day is this month, I thought I’d share an idea for an activity to do with your kids. I think hands-on projects are fun, first of all, but they’re also a great way to start a conversation.

This project is a spin-off of something I did as a child in elementary school, but I’ve tried to add in some talking points to help you talk about Earth Day with your children. Of course, adjust the topics as needed to fit your child’s age!

Egg Carton Garden

1. Choose some seeds for planting herbs (ask in the garden section for tips if you need help) and let your children plant the seeds in potting soil, placing one or two seeds in each chamber of a biodegradable egg carton. Talk to your children about reusing objects for other purpose. You could have them brainstorm other objects they could use in a different way than originally intended.
2. Each of your kids can have their own carton garden, and can decorate it themselves! Once the herbs grow, help your kids plant the cartons in a larger pot or in the ground. Talk to your kids about what ‘biodegradable’ means, and why these kinds of items are better for the Earth. You could also talk about what happens if items aren’t biodegradable or recyclable.
3. Have your kids help you pick a recipe using some of the herbs they’ve planted. Talk to your children about using fresh ingredients, or organic ingredients. You could also talk about sustainable gardening.

I hope you enjoy doing this activity with your kids! For a printable sign and labels to use on your egg carton garden, head over and visit me here to download a free PDF. Thanks again to LeeAnn for having me!

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Thanks for stopping by for our playdate! I hope you had fun! If you would like to come over for a playdate, let me know in a comment or an email.