Well, here we are! Summer has come upon us quickly! Although it has been rather warm, this is the weather we have been waiting for all winter and early spring!  How exciting to be able to enjoy family time in the gardens, on vacation, swimming, hiking, camping, or whatever your family has been able to do as a fun summer tradition!

As your family spends time in the garden together this summer, here are 5 wonderful benefits...

• 1) As you plant vegetables, fruits, and herbs you will all eat healthier! Also, picky eaters are more likely to eat what they helped plant, grow, and harvest!
• 2) More time outside in the garden means less screen time and more vitamin D time!
• 3) Increased physical activity and teamwork take place!
• 4) Reduced stress when spending time in nature leads to better sleep quality.
• 5) When you assign garden chores to your kids, they gain more responsibility while learning how to give back to the earth as they literally "dig deeper into nature!"

A BIG THANK YOU to ALL the kids who took the time to participate in this year's coloring contest!  We ALWAYS appreciate the creativity and effort put in by each and every entry! The winners have been selected and will be announced soon! We are looking forward to sharing pictures of the winners and the gardens they planted in the next few weeks!

Summer Sunflower Fun Ideas…

*Grow sunflower varieties of different heights and colors! Measure them and see which one is the tallest, shortest, and anywhere in between.  Track the sunflower heads as they love to follow the direction of the sun!

*Read the story Sunflower House by Eve Bunting and plant a house of sunflowers if you have the space!

*When mammoth sunflower varieties grow, use the seeds for math activities such as comparing the seeds to the size of a penny, dime, or other coins. Also, you could have them compare them to other seeds such as pumpkin, carrot, or lettuce seeds. Make a chart that states which seeds are the biggest and smallest, or which seeds they have more or less of.

Do sunflower arts and crafts such as (for your convenience we've shared a few links that we thought you'd find useful. Please note: Ebert's Greenhouse does not have any relationship with any entities in the shared links):

--Paper plate crafts (https://www.theresourcefulmama.com/paper-plate-sunflower-craft/)

--Potted popsicle stick sunflowers (https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/202256/sunflower-crafts/ --idea number 3)

--Chalk pastel drawings (https://www.projectswithkids.com/chalk-pastel-sunflowers/)

Todd and Copper had SO much fun in the sun that they decided to take a break!

Have a fun and safe summer!  We hope to see you soon!

All Your friends at Ebert's Greenhouse Village