Tips for Gardening with Your Kids

Gardening with the Kids:

Gardening with children can be both challenging and rewarding. It also can either go really well, or horribly wrong. The outcome really depends on how you as the adult approach the situation. It’s your job to facilitate the gardening process and make sure things stay on track while keeping the kids interested and letting them have fun. Accomplishing those things together can be difficult but there are a couple of things that you can do that will help you in the process.

Give them their own area

Sectioning off a part of the garden that is just for the kids can make them feel important as well as give them a sense of pride in what they are working on. You can use fence borders or outdoor pots to do this. Using tall plants around their section can make it a cool “secret” place for them to be in.

Realize it’s not going to be perfect

Now is not the time to let your inner perfectionist come out. If small children are helping you then rows are going to be crooked and some flowers are going to be smashed. Instead of getting frustrated, just look at the imperfections as added character. Those “character” traits will also serve to remind you of the fun time you all had together when you were gardening.

Let them do the digging

Digging holes is generally kid’s favorite part of working in the garden so go ahead and give them the job.  Make a game out of how many worms each person can find. Don’t be afraid of you or the kids getting messy. Washing off dirt is relatively easy so go all out with it!

Get some books

If you’re having trouble getting them excited about gardening, you can take them to the library for some kid’s books on gardening and plants. They can draw inspiration from the books and some of them even have activities that you can do together. My favorite kids gardening book is “Ready, Set, Grow: A Guide to Gardening with Children”.

Involve them in the plant selection

Give them a say and let them pick some of the plants for the garden. Seeing the plants that they picked grow is exciting for them. It also gives them a sense of ownership and pride in the work that they had done.

Get them their own tools

Working with tools that are the wrong size for you can be very frustrating and no doubt your little ones will be experiencing that frustration if you give them tools that are too large. Making a small investment in some tools that are the right size for your kids can make all the difference between them loving or hating gardening. Plus kid tools often come in fun colors.

What are you planning on planting in your garden this year?

Photo courtesy of Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/themicrogardener/6577287215/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Photo courtesy of Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/5711747069/sizes/z/in/photostream/