The Gnome Garden

These rainy days can be sort of hard on the kids.  No biking, no sidewalk chalk, no running and playing outside...it's been raining for days.

We've had to get creative with activity choices.

Olivia and I made a garden for her gnome.

It all started at the library.  We stopped by to pick up a few books and the kids brought along their reading logs.  Olivia had read 20 books and was eligible for the next reward.  She chose this guy...a gnome.  {He's now affectionately known around our house as "Gnomie".}  I don't know what it was that caused Olivia to fall so in love with him, but she has.  There is a sign hanging near the library entrance that says the library gnome is hiding somewhere inside.  I'm not sure if she thought she found him or what, but from the minute she picked this little guy she acted like he was her long lost BFF.  She has taken very good care of him and suddenly everyone in the family is playing along.  Oh my.

So...what's one to do on a very rainy day?  Make a gnome garden, of course!

I'm not going to bore you with any kind of directions because of course, there are none.  Olivia planted mint in her gnome garden and that was strictly because it smelled good.  (And because she's seven, that too.)  You could plant anything, do anything, with this project.  It is a lot of fun and did keep her busy for a while.  She found little things to put in her garden and has already started making plans for the changing seasons.  She saw a bag of tiny pumpkins at Hobby Lobby the other day and announced she would be buying those in October to add to her garden.  I have to say, that wheel barrel piled high with miniature pumpkins would be super cute.

So if you are looking for a rainy day project (if you aren't - tell me where you live because I'm coming for a visit!) this is a fun one.  Simple, inexpensive, kid-friendly fun - my kind of project!