School Bonsai Project.

Travis

I have been asked to do a bonsai workshop for my little girls 3rd grade class. 18 kids and one teacher. I am kinda new at this. I figure the best way to go (I am going to supply the materials) is buy 20 1 gal. or smaller, junipers and small plastic bonsai containers, mix the soil and...... print up something to take home like directions for the parents on the care of the new bonsai.

I can do the 20 junipers and plastic bonsia trays and soil and the directions. But I need ideas on tools. I am not going to buy 20 kits. I have my tools but only one set. Plus these kids are only 8 and 9 years old. I am going to have them do the whole thing. Prune the tree, then the roots. Do a repot and then some gravel.

I am open and need some ideas for this little venture I am undertaking. I have till Febuary.

Maybe somebody can direct me to a place that has a basic out-line for giving workshops. Plus ideas on something the kids can use for tools.

Thanks Travis.

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Most things they will need to do to a 1 gal. juniper can be done with a cheap pair of diagonal cutters and a healthy set of finger tips. They can use the cutters for both root and branch pruning and use their fingers for pinching back new growth. A pruning saw would be a good idea for cutting back the tap root, one for the whole class should be good enough. I hope you're not planning on a one time class. Most nursery junipers won't have enough feeder roots in the right place to chop the tap root and put them straight into a bonsai pot.

18 youngsters with sharp instruments......YIKES!

Tony

hack

[i:94dbf70c66]Travis[/i:94dbf70c66],
what a neat idea.

I should attend your workshop, sounds like it will be about my speed... :

That's what I was thinking, maybe sharing some classroom tools so your not issuing them out to the lil' critters. Then, in your info work sheets you could send more instructions on what to use/get.

Good luck.

Travis

Thanks Tony and Hack.

I was thinking I would be better off with smaller than one gallon. I found a couple of places that have junipers in 3 to 4 inch pots. That should be the right size to go directly into a plastic bonsai container. Also I wouldn't have to worrie about a large rot ball. Plus the limbs should be small enough to cut with scissors.

This little project should be very interesting to say the least.

Anyone have a basic outline for work shops

Travis

Weeee!

I just got invited to do a work shop at a local high school for the B.A. Class. This class has only four students and the teacher so it will be a good oppurtunity to get it right before I have to do the other class with 18.

I just hope the B.A. students don't try to find out how good a weapon a bonsai can be. Hmmm Can we say PLASTIC bonsai tools

TreeBay

Just ran across this article on the Bonsai Societies of Florida site. *It's in .pdf document, but you can get a copy of Adobe Acrobat reader on www.adobe.com

"Bonsai Societies of Florida Present
A Child's Bonsai Workshop
by Tony Rolon.

Learning Goal:
This course is designed as an introduction to for children to the art of bonsai through a hands-on workshop..."

http://www.bonsai-bsf.com/childws.pdf

http://www.bonsai-bsf.com/bsfbasicteacherguide.pdf

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