Grandparenting and spring
Don Schmitz & Grandkidsandme

“There goes the school bus!” 

Don’t think for a moment that just because the kids are still in school, you can’t spend some fun, quality time with your grandchildren. 

Spring is the time when the snow (finally) melts, and the birds return to the Midwest. It is also a time of exploration and renewal. Walks in the woods or around the neighborhood to discover nature can be especially fun as the warm breezes awaken the forest and the earth. 

The following activities are fun ways to explore spring with your grandchildren. Whatever you do, your grandchildren will love to see the season of spring through your eyes.


Gathering Maple Syrup

In the Midwest, one of the excitements of spring is gathering sap from maple trees. When I was young, my grandfather showed me how to tap a maple tree. What a great experience it was! Is this one of those experiences that is dying with our elders? Maybe it’s time for you to renew it with your grandchild. 

Steps for Tapping a Maple Tree: 

• First, gather an old broom handle. Saw about six inches off of the handle and drill a hole horizontally with a 3/16-inch bit. 
• Next, find a maple tree and drill a hole just a little bit larger than the broom handle, about two and a half inches into the trunk. 
• Then pound the broom handle in the tree snugly with a hammer.
  Attach a small nail on the handle and hang an ice cream bucket on the handle. 
• Then the fun starts. The sap will begin running when the temperature gets above freezing for a few days. It runs best when the nights are cool and the days are bright and sunny. How exciting it is when the sap fills the pail! 
• You can use the sap as a sweetener for making nectar, or you can drink the sap just like it is. You may want to screen the sap first to remove any dirt. You will find it to be very sweet. 
• You can also boil it on the stove like the old Sugar Shacks did to make maple syrup, but be aware it takes a great deal of sap -- approximately forty gallons to make one gallon of syrup. 

Oh, the magic of spring! 

Planting a Garden

Another fun spring activity is planting a garden. It really doesn’t take a big piece of earth. That’s one of the nice things about gardens. They come in all sizes. You can even plant your garden in a box on the patio. Your local nursery should have children’s garden seeds, which will allow you to grow a variety of vegetables in your garden.

Children, of course, like action. To get a jump on spring, you can take an old storm window and lean it up against the south side of the house. This will increase the temperature and help your vegetables grow even faster. I would also suggest planting a few radishes. They germinate quickly and will mature in a few weeks. 

Another fun thing to grow is a sunflower. The directions for planting the seeds always appear on the package. Simply follow the directions. They can grow up to as much as 10 feet under the right conditions. Your grandchild will think it’s Jack’s Beanstalk!

One of the best things about planting a garden is teaching your grandchildren how to nurture and care for living things. Tell them about watering and pruning. Remind them how important it is to care for the garden. And before they know it, they will see how beautifully and deliciously their hard work pays off!

Flying a Kite

Today there are all types of kites. You can buy a kite or make your own, whichever you prefer. Making kites is a fun activity, but be aware that they may not last long in a good spring breeze!

One of the beauties of kite flying is that it is extremely inexpensive. To fly a kite, all you need is a kite and string. Two “add-on” options are a tail for the kite to be used on windy days and a crank of some sort to let the string out and rewind quickly. 

An additional requirement, though, is patience! This item can’t be purchased at the store, but can be learned. Flying a kite is a good time to teach patience to grandchildren (and remember about it ourselves!). 

An ideal day is composed of lots of sun in order to keep warm, along with a gentle breeze. Too much wind can cause the kite to rip. Gusty winds can also make kite flying difficult. On the contrast, no wind will force you to wait for another day. 

You will also want to use a large area to fly your kite. Chances are, your backyard is not big enough. You will need to be far away from any power lines and trees as well. School playgrounds or parks can often be a good place to fly your kite.

So when you see a kite flying in a gentle breeze, it’s a sure sign that spring is here. And maybe a sure sign that a grandparent is out with a grandchild as well!

Enjoy your time together this spring. And remember, it’s not the activity, but the time you spend together that really counts!

Don Schmitz is a popular speaker and writer on parenting and grandparenting. He is the author of The New Face of Grandparenting…Why Parents Need Their Own Parents and founder of The Grandkidsandme Foundation and Grandparent Camps. Don holds graduate degrees in Education, Administration and Human Development. He is the father to three sons and nine  grandchildren. Contact Don@grandkidsandme.com