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Gardening With Kids: Fun Ideas And Activities

Colin Macmillan Colin Macmillan
November 15, 2023
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A mother and her daughter enjoy Gardening With Kids in their blooming garden.
As the weather warms up and the days get longer, what better way to spend quality time with your children than by getting your hands dirty in the garden? Not only is gardening a fun and rewarding activity for kids, but it also teaches them important skills like responsibility, patience, and nurturing. Whether you have a large backyard or a small balcony, we have tips and tricks to help you start your family gardening adventure.

So roll up your sleeves, grab your gardening gloves, and let’s get growing!

Activities For Gardening With Children

This summer, enjoy the fantastic opportunity to garden with your kids. Following our gardening tips, you can be sure to have a successful outdoor experience together.

At an early age, it is important to teach kids about the environment to ensure they will protect and care for our planet for many years to come. Gardening is an excellent way to help them better appreciate nature and the natural world and understand how food is produced. This spring and summer are a great time to engage kids in various garden activities that promote environmental awareness. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Build A Sensory Garden

Sensory gardens are carefully crafted spaces to stimulate and engage the senses. This garden typically features plants with pleasing aromas, bold colours, and interesting textures that are meant to be touched and explored. It is often used to help children with special needs or to provide therapeutic benefits for those affected by sensory processing disorders.

Plant Raised Beds

Creating a raised garden bed with seating is an ideal project for young gardeners to cultivate many different types of edible plants. Brainstorm together to decide what to grow, such as corn, cherry tomatoes, french beans, peas, strawberries, and raspberries, all crops that are sure to be popular. To start this year, purchase seedlings to plant out or wait until next spring for sowings.

Grow Every Colour Of The Rainbow

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Gardening can be an enjoyable and pleasurable activity, especially when it’s done in the sun. A great way to involve children is to create a rainbow garden with their favourite herbs, flowers, fruits, and veggies in each colour. This makes it a fun and interactive learning experience, allowing them to work on one section at a time.

Cultivate A Homemade Pizza Garden

A fun and rewarding activity for children is to create a pizza garden. Arrange the plants in a circle, with each wedge representing a different ingredient found on a pizza, such as tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, wheat or oats, and marigolds for colour. When planted and grown, the child can use them to make a real pizza, a fruit of their labour.

Enhance Your Garden With Rocks

This fun activity is a great way to get kids involved in the garden. Gather some large, relatively smooth rocks and provide them with oil-based paint to get creative. These can be used as garden markers or to customize the plot. The oil-based paint will keep the art vibrant even after a rainstorm.

Tips For Gardening With Children

Provide Each Child With Their Own Garden Beds

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For young gardeners, it is recommended to provide each individual with their plot in the form of raised beds, containers, or ground plots – no larger than 3×3. This will allow them to experiment with gardening independently, in an area with the best soil and light, without impacting the other plants.

Choose A theme

By selecting various sensory plants, one can create a garden that encourages multiple senses. For example, a rainbow garden featuring trees and plants with an intense visual appeal or a selection of plants with pleasant smells, tastes, and textures.

Repurpose The Old Sandbox

If your children are no longer playing in the sandbox, you can easily repurpose it into a garden bed. This will give the child a sense of ownership and responsibility for their gardening project. However, the sandbox must be in an area that receives good sunlight, and the soil should be tree roots-free. If not, the sandbox may need to be moved to a more suitable location.

Give Them Tools

Investing in specific kid-sized gardening tools can be a great way to get children excited about helping in the garden. Rain boots, gardening gloves, small shovels, and a watering can all add to the experience and make the child feel like they are part of the process. If you do not have the funds to purchase these items, you can still let the child use your tools and acknowledge the importance of their work.

Let Them Be Involved Throughout The Entire Process

A woman and two children are having a fun time in the garden.
Children learn better when they understand the context of their activity. They will learn that gardening can be fun, but far more than idle play; they are contributing to the family well-being. Besides planting and taking care of their garden beds, be sure they alone do the harvesting and preparation of their crop for the table, no matter how modest the offering.

Ensure Their Safety

When designing a sensory garden, it is vital to consider any potential hazards that may arise. Plants with sharp foliage or thorns should be avoided, as should any poisonous plants. To avoid chaos, edible plants should be grouped in distinct areas. In this way, children can enjoy the garden’s sensory experience without worrying about harm.

Plan Ahead

Create a calendar to track projected growth and harvest dates, and brainstorm ideas to utilize the plants. These projected dates are estimates, but having a visual guide can help your kids better understand when they can expect to reap the rewards of their hard work.

Let The Kids Have Fun Watching Their Plants Grow!

A pair of children engaged in a fun gardening activity.
Gardening can be an enjoyable and constructive activity for kids, as it helps to build their self-esteem and teaches them the value of hard work and patience. With the proper guidance and supplies, children can create beautiful pieces for the garden that will bring great joy as they watch their efforts result in a magnificent garden.

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