Make Grow
Ornaments
with your class
for the holidays!

Lesson Objective: To recycle newspaper to create plantable greeting cards
Time: 30 minutes
Materials: newspaper, screen, bin, water, cookie cutters, blender,flower seed(any seed will do but larger seed that is more easily seen make the final product more attractive)

Note - for this activity you will need to make a screen frame. You can use window screen stapled to a wooden frame or even screen over an embroidery hoop

Ask youths if they have ever received a card for their birthday, Christmas or other special occasion. Then ask them if they have ever planted one of those cards in a garden. Tell them that today the are going to make a greeting card for someone they know that can be planted in the garden and will grow a plant.

Have your young gardeners gather scraps of paper and tear them into small pieces about the size of postage stamps. Have them fill a blender half full with the scraps and 3/4 full with water. The water and paper mixture should be blended at high speed until the mixture has an oatmeal-like consistency. The gardeners can choose a cookie cutter shape they like and place the cutter onto the screen. Next, they should pour the blended paper mixture into the cutter so a thin layer of the mixture fills in the shape. Seeds should then be sprinkled onto the mixture. Just so the seeds won't fall off of the card once the card dries, have them push the seeds into the mixture with a finger.

Place the screen with the wet paper shape onto a towel and carefully remove the cutter. Then have them lay another towel over the paper shape and firmly press to remove most of the remaining water. The paper shape with still be damp but will be strong enough to keep its form. The "Grow Card" should dry and be ready for giving in a day or two.

Ribbon or raffia can be attached to the grow card and it could then be given as a hanging ornament. Your group can also cut rectangles(about 8" long, 6" wide) out of brown paper bag, folded the paper in half and then attach the grow card to the front. These will have a space for writing a special message on the inside.


Grow Cards can also be a great fund raising opportunity for schools, scouts, 4-Hers and other youth groups.

In the classroom extension...
Have students write a short paragraph explaining what a "Grow Card" is and how to plant it. These can be neatly written on the back of the fold of the brown paper part of the card so the recipient will know what to do with it.

Junior Master Gardener Program - Level One
Chapter Three - Ecology and Environmental Horticulture
"Grow Cards" p.63
Copyright 2002 Junior Master Gardener Program
www.jmgkids.us