The first steps on a gardening adventure for toddlers took place at Gyllyngdune Gardens in Falmouth last week where the inaugural meeting of the Little Blooms group took place.

Over the next five weeks the group, which is aimed at under-fives and their parents/carers, will meet at the gardens every Wednesday morning to enjoy a new activity. They began last week with a tour of the gardens before getting mucky planting marigold seeds in pots.

Today (March 5th), they will be getting even muckier as they have fun in a muddy kitchen where they will use sand, soil and water to achieve a sensory experience.

The sessions are run by Sara Baistrochhi who explained the idea behind them is to engage with young children and provide them with opportunities to get involved. “We have a lot of families wandering around the garden with little children, but we didn’t really do anything before to involve them specifically,” she said.

“We wanted to do something a bit different from the many other activities on offer around Falmouth and we have great opportunities here because we have a great place with lots of resources in terms of nature and history.

“It’s a way of creating a sense of belonging and if we catch them young, hopefully they will follow that through as they get older.”

The 45minute sessions start at 11.15am each Wednesday, up to and including April 2, and will probably be extended after Easter. After today’s muddy kitchen, on March 12 there will be a chance to get involved with some weeding around the garden in preparation for the Falmouth Spring festival.

On March 19 the theme will be “roses in the salad” and entail making art with vegetables; on March 26, participants will be making plant-able sandpaper and then on the final session on April 2, they will be saying hello to Mr Craze grass-head. For more information pop into the gardens or call 01326 211222.

Falmouth Packet:

Falmouth Packet: