Projects by Category

Smokey Bear is recognized nationally and internationally as the symbol for fire prevention. The original Smokey Bear appeared in 1944. Smokey’s message, “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires!” encourages personal responsibility for fire prevention. Smokey Bear teaches children and adults to be careful with campfires, barbecues, trash fires, and matches.

LEND A HAND—CARE FOR THE LAND!
Woodsy Owl is America’s icon for the conservation of the environment. Since 1971, Woodsy has helped parents and teachers inspire children to observe, explore, and care for the environment.
He challenges children to “Lend a Hand, Care for the Land!” and to take an active role in caring for the land through recycling, reusing, and reducing waste, planting and caring for trees, using resources wisely, and not littering.

Sculpture Contest
Visit the GCSC Youth Symposium Site to View 2010 Winners or the following NGC site
http://www.gardenclub.org/youth/contests/Sculpture.aspx

YouthGardening.aspx

Digging in the dirt and planting flowers is certainly fun, but what else can you plan that will appeal to all children? We've come up with some other suggestions to help individualize your youth club's projects depending on their interests!

Insects:

Start an ant farm. How is the colony set up? Where does the Queen live?

Do a study in the garden & indentify as many different insects as possible. Make drawings and labels for each. Look in the library and find out if each insect is beneficial or detrimental to the garden.

Determine which plants attract butterflies, plant them , then identify every species that visits your plants

Make a booklet with paints or colored pencil drawings of these different butterflies. What does each species need for their young to grow from larva to butterflies? Plant those plants also. How long does this take? What happens to these butterflies over the winter?

What role do earthworms play in the garden? Can you start a worm farm? How could your club profit from earthworms?

How can bees help your garden? Find out how a bee colony is set up. What type of nests do different types of bees make? Keep bees for a honey project with good adult supervision.

Litter:

Clean up an area in your community. Let others know via the local newspaper that you are working on this.

Involve your group in a Beach Sweep clean up. Look at www.dnr.sc.gov for more information in your area.

Work together with another group to clean up a park, a picnic area, a certain place downtown or the local ballfield.

Birds:

Have a speaker from a wild bird shop to tell about feeding or housing birds.

Make dried gourd bird houses. Use large gourds with curved top. Make round hole to inside of gourd (for bird entrance). Clean out inside flesh with long handled spoons and dry in the sun. Drill small hole, insert wire for hanging. Outside can be painted, brushed/sprayed with clear protective finish, dried , then hung.

Checkout these websites: www.wildbirds.com and www.birdwatchers.com for some other great ideas.

Make a pinecone feeder for wintertime feeding. Take large pinecone, loop bright colored ribbon around top for hanging. Using butter knife, spread peanut butter into all areas of pinecone. Roll into bird seed, hang and watch which birds come to visit!

How many different types of birds can you spot in your garden? Make a booklet and draw/paint them.

What are their habits? What do they like to eat?

Design:

Learn about colors and heights in a design. What are opposites on a color wheel?

Make different types of designs. What is a water design? How does it differ from traditional design?

Can you make a Holiday design using pine or boxwood?

Have a speaker come to your meeting from a favorite nursery or floral shop.

Garden Therapy:

What do different herbs do? (ie. Lavender relaxes)

Read books from the library about herbal bath additives.

Make clear soaps with herbal additivies.

Grow and dry your own herbs.

Make lavender pillow sachets for a Sr. Center or nursing home. Explain the benefits.

Make bar soaps for sale at a club Holiday sale or as gifts for a Sr. Center or nursing home.

Can you find recipes for lotions, creams & even lipgloss from herbs and natural ingredients?

Make a chart for display at a Sr. Center about different aromatherapy ideas.

Find out where lanolin & beeswax come from. They are common ingredients in most cosmetic items.

Conservation:

What does conservation mean? How can we use conservation in our daily lives?

Ask someone from the Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) to speak at your meeting.

Make posters to inform the public how they can practice/help with conservation.

Display posters at the library, school or retail stores.

These are just a few ideas that can help prompt an idea for a community or club project. Your local library, local DNR, Garden Club members and the SC Wildlife Federation as well as lots of subjects you can google on the internet.. they can all be of invaluable service to you.

If you need further assistance, information or ideas, Please contact me ¨C I will be happy to help!

Garden Club of South Carolina

Youth Garden Club Chairman

Mary Alice Hall
email maryahall@charter.net;
phone 864-366-4054

Projects by Category

Youth Garden Clubs

GOT A GREEN THUMB?

Sponsor a Youth Garden Club!

Get 5 School-age gardeners together….

Have 5 meetings a year…..

Pay $5.00 to the GCSC…..

Any Questions?

Please Contact Youth Garden Club Chair:

Mary Alice Hall 116 Ellis Ave Abbeville, SC 29620

email maryahall@charter.net; phone 864-366-4054

Kids are the FUTURE of the Garden Club of South Carolina!

Youth Garden Club Projects and Ideas: Visit the following NGC website http://www.gardenclub.org/youth/YouthGardening.aspx