It’s Tool Time!

Title: It’s Tool Time!
Description: Learn about the different garden tools and which tool to choose for specific jobs.
Season: All year
Length of Activity: 30 minutes
Age: 3-10
Button: Start the Activity

It’s Tool Time

Have you ever heard the song  Inch by Inch, Row by Row
If you haven’t, click on the link above and give it a listen.
Then come back here to continue learning.

In the second line of the song, the singer mentions two different garden tools: the rake and the hoe.

Can you identify one from the other? Which one would you use to gather leaves? Which might help you cut weeds?

If you like to garden, you may already be familiar with some of the most common tools, but in this activity, we are going to make sure you can identify the most typical garden tools and also learn how to use them. Because when you know how to use a tool correctly, it makes gardening just a little bit easier.

Supplies and Tools Needed:
Garden tools. If you don’t have many gardening tools, you may want to take this activity to the garden section of your local hardware store.

Getting started

Step 1: Locate your gardening tools and lay them all out so your child can see them easily.

Step 2: Ask the following questions:

What would you use to:

● Clean up leaves?
● Dig a hole?
● Plant something?
● Get flowers ready to go into a vase?
● Prune a tree or bush?
● Water your plants?
● Move a plant from one place to another?
● Protect your hands?
● To water your plants?
● To help kill the weeds?

Step 3: If you are guiding this activity for a child who is learning to read, you may want to print out the names of the most common tools and have them in a pile so that they can match the word to the tool. (Rake, Hoe, Trowel, Pruning shears, Watering can, Wheelbarrow, Shovel, Hose, Gardening gloves, Bucket, etc)

Taking it Deeper
No two gardens are the same. Someone who lives in the countryside and has a big orchard may need different tools from someone who simply has a backyard garden.
But a couple of the tools we learned about today are essential. Which do you think they are?

Are there some of the tools that could be dangerous? If so, how should they be stored?
What about caring for our tools? How do you think we might care for our tools so that they last a long, long time?

Further Reading
If you love to read as much as we do, check out a copy of the book Tools for the Garden by Mari Schu from your local library or purchase a copy from your local bookstore. If you’d prefer to listen to the book, you can do so by clicking here..

Further Watching
Here is a real-life video of a mother and her son learning about useful garden tools and how to use them.