Garden of Eden Small World

Over the last few weeks I have been reading the story of creation to the children before they go to bed.  We have a few children’s bibles so I have been alternating between different presentations of the story each week.  My three year old has become particularly inquisitive about anything to do with the bible and God, so I wanted to take the opportunity to bring this bible story to life for him.   I thought it would be fun to set up a mini Garden of Eden – one which the children plant and look after, just as Adam and Eve did in the very beginning.  

My original idea for the garden involved setting aside a plot of land in the big garden with a little picket fence around it for the children to work on and play in, but we are renting at the moment and I didn’t want to invest so much into a garden that we may only enjoy for a few more months. (Also I don’t have a great track history of keeping plants alive!), so we went for a moderate window box Garden of Eden.

We started this project by choosing our plants.  This involved a bit of research into which plants are safe in case a child ate one of them (which, in the case of my 22 month old is very likely!) I decided to go for a herb (rosemary) and other edible plants (dianthus and viola), letting the boys choose the colour.

I set up the table with a tray for the children to spoon the soil into the flower box and then we dug out three spaces to put the plants into.  I showed Wugs how to handle the plant when we took out of the pot and re-planted it, which led to a discussion about roots.  Once our plants were in their new home, Wugs watered it and I added in a few characters to link our flower box to our nighttime story.

Our Adam and Eve figurines were made from wooden pegs, which I decorated with markers and then used a varnish to protect them from the moisture.  The decision not to cover their bodies was a deliberate one, as was the omission of the snake and the angel with the flashing sword.  I didn’t want our Garden of Eden to be reduced to a story about the Fall, but to reflect the innocence and freedom that humans once had.  Plus the fact that Wugs would never have made the association between our figurines and the creation story unless he could see “Adam’s willy” (something he checked immediately before placing him in the garden)! 

The signpost was made from painted craft sticks and a label which was also varnished.

The garden spends most of its time outside the conservatory where the children can view it when they are playing indoors or they are free to play with it when they are outside.  I keep a container of different animal figurines which they can use in their play.  Every few days I ask Wugs to check the soil to see if it is dry and he waters it appropriately and we have watched the dianthus in particular come into bloom.

What we used:

Flower Box for the plants

Potting Mix

Tray to contain the potting mix (optional, but easier than using a bag)

Digging tools

Plants

Wooden pegs

Craft sticks

Markers

Labels