It can sometimes be a little bit of a challenge trying to remember all of the different fruit, vegetables and plants you are growing in your garden, especially if they are all being grown in one area. One really fun way to remember is to get creative and make some bright plant markers to stick into the soil and label each individual plant! This is the perfect sunny day activity for you and your children to get stuck into, with the freedom to create some really pretty, colourful labels for your plants!
You Will Need:
- Recycled Cereal Boxes
- Coloured Markers
- Scissors
- Craft Glue
- Popsicle Sticks
- Coloured Card or Paper
- Laminator
Step 1
The first thing to do when making your plant markers is to cut out some card from your recycled cereal box and make a shape. You could cut your marker into the shape of a vegetable or fruit, or you could keep it a simple shape and draw your label on afterwards. Once you’ve decided on the shape of your marker, you need to find a coloured piece of card to stick to the cardboard to add a base colour. Remember, it’s important to make sure an adult is helping with any scissor use!
Step 2
Once you have stuck some coloured card onto your cardboard cut-out, it’s time to get really creative. Design a label to make sure you know exactly what plant is growing in that area, such as tomatoes, strawberries etc! You could write the word of the plant in really clear writing, or you could draw a small picture of the plant to show what is growing there! If you want to be extra creative, you could even colour co-ordinate your card to match the colour of the plant you are labelling!
Step 3
Now that your labels are clear and you know which plant they are going to be used for, you need to make sure they are ready to face any weather conditions that may occur. You never know when it might begin to rain or even when you try to water your plants and catch your label by mistake! If you have access to a laminating machine, give your cardboard marker a run through the machine and give it a weatherproof finish. This will make sure your labels don’t run or fade, making you forget what plant is what! If you’re lucky enough to have a fruit cage or cover in your garden, laminating the card isn’t going to be a necessity, but you can always do it for added durability!
Step 4
With your markers almost ready, it’s time to stick them to the popsicle sticks and leave them to dry for 10 to 15 minutes. Once your marker is stuck to the stick, you can take your colourful markers into the garden and plant them right next to the plant they are labelling! Now you can see your design in action, whilst is adds a bright touch to your garden! For extra detail, you could even add the date that you planted your plant on the label, to really make sure you know exactly how much progress your plants are making!
