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Grow native plants in your garden
Take a section of your garden at home and make a home for plants that are native to your province. Have a look at our list of plant names and choose some for your own garden. You can buy them at the plant nurseries in your area, but don't take any plants from parks or natural lands!
Start your own seed collection
Watch your garden plants and trees carefully to see when their seeds appear. Take just a few and put them in a paper envelopes and put them in a cool and dry area of your basement. When they are dry, see if you can identify them by using a field guide like John Farrar's Trees in Canada.
Start a garden on your balcony
Not everyone lives in a house with a garden, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy plants too. Find some plant pots and give a nice home to some plants from your province. They can come inside with you in the winter, but be sure to ask the plant nursery staff how much water and sunlight it needs. You can also have fun decorating the pots. Try painting them with your name and the plant's name on it.
Help make your schoolyard green
Talk to your teacher or principal about making your schoolyard more natural. Removing some of the pavement and planting grasses and shrubs is much more fun and looks nice too! If your teacher would like to know some more information, tell them about this website: Evergreen Natural Schools.
Winter can be dreary without plants, but why not grow them inside? Have a contest with your mom, dad, brother or sister to see whose seed will grow the fastest and whose plant will grow taller. Ask your teacher if you can grow plants at school and learn more about them.
Learn about plants on your own or with your family. You can find lots of information on the internet, in the library or from your teachers.
Here is one activity to try:
To test if plants really do grow towards light (phototropism), you need: a shoebox, a pot, some soil, bean plant, scissors, tape and glue.
Cut a window in one end of the box (where the shoe heel would go) and make two cardboard shelves that stick out from the sides. Plant a bean in a pot and put the lid on the box. The bean plant will grow around the shelves and make its way out the top window towards light. Don't forget to water the plant. Click here for a picture.
Once you have learned new plant facts, teach your friends and start learning together. You could even start your own garden with your friends!
When you're outside, try to remember what is underneath your feet! Try not to step on plants or pull them up or pick their flowers. Flowers are pretty and smell great, but they are how the plant reproduces and provides more flowers for next year.
