Pamela'shome
We tend to make everything too, and this one my son is actually constructing. We're using the teepee construction as a lesson in circles (diameter, radius, circumference) as well as measuring and tying knots!
This will be rather lengthy, but here's the article that spurred our teepees, I found it on
www.icangarden.com :
Here’s how you and your little one can grow an easy bean teepee:
Make sure the teepee site is in full sun with good drainage. A week or so before planting, help your child to measure off a circular area roughly 4 feet (1.3 m) in diameter. Now assemble your bean poles, which should be 6-9 feet (2-2.7 m) in length and can be fashioned from bamboo garden stakes, tree branches, unpeeled saplings or lengths of milled ¾ inch wood-lathe.
Insert the poles about 1 foot (30 cm) deep into the soil around the perimeter of the circle, slanting them towards the centre. You can use as few as 3 poles or as many as ten, but remember to leave an opening for the “entrance” to the teepee. Fasten the poles at the top with strong twine, or with a plastic pot whose bottom has been cut out.
Several days before planting, cultivate the soil around the poles to a width and depth of about 1 foot (30 cm). Beans like soil with good organic content and lots of earthworms, so if yours needs enriching, work in several shovel loads of compost. (Leaf mould or dampened peat moss also add organic content, but are not as nutrient-rich as compost.) Beans are legumes, therefore nodules on their roots “fix” nitrogen in the soil, but this can’t happen until the plants have started to grow. So if your soil is poor -- particularly if you are unable to add compost -- it’s also beneficial to work in several inches of composted cattle or sheep manure, which contains nitrogen.
Select the seed. The best bean for a teepee is a fast-growing runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) such as ‘Scarlet Runner’, with showy red flowers that often attract hummingbirds. Other good runner beans include ‘Painted Ladies’ with orange and white flowers, ‘Emperor Scarlet’ and ‘Red Knight’.
Beans are very frost-tender, so wait to sow seed until 2-3 weeks after the last frost date, when the soil is well-warmed. If the weather is dry, water the soil a few days before planting. Around each pole, sow 4 bean seeds at a depth of 1 inch (2.5 cm). Seeds will take 6-10 days to germinate. When seedlings emerge and start to grow, thin them to 1-2 plants per pole and gently twine them around the poles to get them started climbing.
Keep the soil at the base of the beans regularly watered, but avoid sprinkling overhead. In very hot, sticky summer weather, runner beans are often slow to produce pods, but will resume as the weather cools. Little ones using the bean teepee as a hideout should be gently cautioned about bumping against the vines and damaging them.
Runner beans are ready to harvest in 60-70 days, depending on the variety. Pods can be up to 8 inches long (20 cm) long when mature. They should be picked for eating when they are young and tender, since they toughen and become stringy when left on the vine. They can be steamed or eaten raw. Provided the beans are picked continuously, the plants will continue to produce new pods until frost.
Have fun!
PS Have you thought of signing your son up for the kids postcard exchange? It is sooooo fun and you can use it for school (we use it for handwriting and sometimes geography)
Here in Arizona we usually have our gardens going by now, but we have had a lot of rain & cooler temps than usual. So we have not even tilled or plowed yet. I have a very big garden area. Last year it was taken over by okra my dh tilled in some plants from the year before & the pods were full of seeds. All okra was pulled out this time & burned. Being 
this year I don't think I will plant as big a garden. Know I want my fresh tomatoes, already bought my onion sets too those are easy to grow not much maintence. A few okra plants, cantaloupe & honeydew for sure. Oh yeah dh loves radishes too those are pretty easy also. Maybe I can get more help from dh little one likes to help in there. Any suggestions for gardening in my shape?
When is he/she due? I cant believe my DD turns 2 in May!
