Garden activities for May :: The Garden Classroom

Spring is blooming in our garden and we are busy, busy, busy starting vegetable seeds.  Here are some important garden activities for May that you can enjoy with your children.

Garden Activities for May

Welcome to our garden classroom! This post is part of our Kids Gardening Activities. You can use our month-by-month garden guides for your school gardening club, community garden or at home with your family and I’ll show you what to plant, harvest, do, make and learn each month of the year. You will also find more ideas and inspiration in my book, The Garden Classroom.

#1 What to plant in May

For us in the UK, now is the time to sow: squash, and direct sow nasturtium and cornflowers.

You can also still sow the plants from last month: summer squash, sweetcorn, Florence fennel, lettuce, courgette, broccoli, celery, runner beans, beetroot, French beans, cabbage, pumpkin, basil, sunflowers, cucumber, peas, sunflowers

On warm days you can open greenhouse doors and windows, but do still watch out for frosts, and don’t plant out tender plants just yet as you may lose them when you’ve only just begun.

#2 Keep weeding

Keep weeding, and apply a layer of compost /mulch over the top of areas that you have cleared of weeds. This will help to stop weeds re-growing and give the soil a good feed, in preparation for when your seedlings are ready to plant out into this soil.

#3 Gather your own water

If you haven’t already got a water butt set up to catch rainwater, now is a good time to get one, so you will have an eco-friendly source of water for your plants when they need an extra drink in the coming warmer weather.

#4 Make a compost heap

You can also think about adding that garden essential: a compost heap. You can buy a compost tub, or make your own, or try a DIY wormery.

#5 What to harvest in May

The first new potatoes should be ready this month, along with salad and lettuce, spring onions, first peas, radish, and wild nettles which you can use to make nettle soup or nettle pesto.

#6 Take your literacy outdoors

Now is a good time to start a garden journal with your children, so you can chart your progress all through the growing year. Or you might take inspiration from the creatures in your garden and try creative writing with some word birds.

#7 Explore nature’s colour wheel

This nature colour wheel activity is a great way to combine the colour theory of an art lesson with the careful investigation of a science lesson in your outdoor classroom. It comes with a free printable colour wheel too.

#8 Learn how plants take up water

This classic children’s science project is easy to set up and amazing to watch – try the colour changing flowers experiment.

#9 Get The Garden Classroom guide

My book The Garden Classroom is bursting with ideas you can use to make the most of the math, science, literacy, art and play waiting for you outdoors. This is your go-to book to give your children a connection with nature, and is full of creative ways to use the garden to inspire learning. See more and get your copy here.