Jobs for the boys!!!
I am in charge of 10 lads, 10 and 11 years old, with "issues" and we have an Allotment on a really well appointed site. We are so lucky to have loads of help and advice from other allotmenteers who have plots around us. Our site was really overgrown when we got it but the boys worked really hard on clearling it, including some very reluctant Jerusalem artichokes which were taking over the world!!! We've got onions, garlic and shallots in the ground now and we are excited about future plantings. My problem is finding jobs for all of them to be occupied at the same time. For instance, they can't all be digging or planting the same bit. I need to invent some really useful and important jobs to keep them all busy at the same time. It gets very "dog in the manger" at times- if one person's digging looks more exciting than theirs they want to do that instead. The nature of these lads is that they don't have much patience. Any imaginative ideas?
You could allways get them
allister1963 Posted at 09:36 on Tue, 02/24/2009You could allways get them building Compost Bins, Bird Scarers, Scarecrows, etc... A few old pallets and a hammer and nails, kids ingenuity and its amazing what they can come up with.
Allister
Pallets
vistamoraira Posted at 11:15 on Tue, 02/24/2009Similar to Allister's comment... my husband last year on our allotment became very imaginative with pallets. Built a picket fence (just narrow enough to keep out the rabbits) and a bench. Ok, so the bench doesn't look like it came out of a garden centre.. but it was free, apart from screws and nails, and serves the purpose. I'm sure even 11 year olds, with supervision, could make a good attempt at some seating, which they could paint "customize". Or... on a smaller scale, making plant labels? Preparing a seed bed... with lots of sieving could also be done if the soil was dry enough. Keep up the good work... Regards.