Each spring and summer our kids plan, plant, and grow their own salad tables. These sensory garden tables become small worlds for pretend play all season long while simultaneously providing us with vegetables and herbs to harvest. From fairy gardens to dinosaur environments to train tables with real plants around them, our sensory garden tables are endless in their possibilities for imaginative play!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro Gro-ables.
All opinions are 100% mine.
All opinions are 100% mine.
I asked my dad to make these salad tables specifically for our kids several years ago. They've stood the test of time over several seasons as well as inspired so many scenarios for pretend play!
We love that they are spending time outside with real plants and dirt playing in sensory tables that their grandfather lovingly built for them.
We love that they are spending time outside with real plants and dirt playing in sensory tables that their grandfather lovingly built for them.
We don't have a yard so we've always been container gardeners! I read about salad tables but asked my dad to adapt them to the kids' height so that they could garden with us. Using 1 1/2" by 3 1/4" boards, he built a 2' by 4' rectangle with 18" legs.
The bottom has galvanized wire mesh stapled to it. My dad reinforced this with small 1" boards at three spots under the bottom of the table. Lastly, he lined it with newspaper before we put the potting mix in. You could also line the bottom with burlap. Either material allows the garden to drain while still supporting the weight of the contents.
What I didn't realize when I asked my dad to build these salad garden tables for us is that they would soon become sensory play tables as well. Our kids love to arrange their small toys in the gardens creating various small worlds all spring, summer, and fall. it's important to me that the contents of our garden tables are edible so we're excited to use Miracle-Gro Gro-ables this year!
Previously I shared how we'd planned which Miracle-Gro Gro-ables to plant in our salad tables versus which we would try in our garden plot (that we rent to garden with friends). Our daughter planted the spinach, lettuce, and herb Miracle-Gro Gro-ables in her garden table for this year. Since each Gro-able is guaranteed to grow, I was confident that she'd have gardening success. We have sprouts already!
Simply loosen the potting mix then push the seed pod Gro-able in until the top is level with the surface. Remind kids to water daily for sprouts in a few weeks! Our daughter measured the Gro-ables for proper spacing in the salad table too for extra math practice.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram to check out the progress of our sensory garden tables all year long!
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