Stepping Stones

Earlier this month we made cement stepping stones to adorn the preschool garden. Stepping-stones are a fun way to create a colorful and artistic accent to the garden. However, the logistics of this project were a bit complicated. I wanted to prepare the cement mixture in advance, since the stones are meant to be decorated by young children (3-5 years old). I ended up mixing a bag of Portland cement with water to a thick paste at home, and used 28 disposable pie pans as molds. Then transported the cement-filled pie pans to the school.

At the school the kids had fun decorating the stones with a selection of colorful items: small stones, shells, gems and small plastic animals and figurines. I know that plastic items will eventually deteriorate in the sun, but I decided to use them anyway for the vibrant colors and to add another dimension to the stones.

The stepping-stones were left to cure for a week and then placed around the water fountain in the garden. Now we can add some flowers for a nice welcoming garden.