Gardening can be a fun and valuable skill, for children of any age to learn. There are so many ways to teach your children about gardening, and so many lessons to be learned. I've put together a list of few things that you can do to make sure it is exciting, while teaching them. After all, the key to success in teaching young children how to garden, and cultivate a life long love of it, is to make the experience fun.
Fun Ways to Teach Children Gardening
Get them their own tools. Most stores with a gardening center will have sets of gardening tools, and most will have child sized tools available. Giving your child their own set of tools will make them feel even more included in the process as well as teach them responsibility to clean them off and take good care of them.
Start with easy plants. There are many food plants as well as flowering plants that are easy to grow. You can create a potato station to grow potatoes in your yard, or grow basic flowers or simple vegetables. When starting out you will want to keep the plants easy and as your child learns about gardening more you can introduce more sensitive plants to grow.
Connect with Wildlife. Include wildlife in your learning adventure to keep kids interested. Once your child knows how to grow plants, start introducing plants that can attract certain bugs or animals. Have them track when they see bugs and on what plants. You can also teach them about the beneficial bugs that they do want in their garden, and those that they want to keep away from their plants.
Include DIY projects. Make things for your garden such as bird houses, fairy houses or planters that are for certain types of plants. This is a great way to keep your child involved in the garden year round. (These projects are great for rainy or cold days when gardening isn’t possible.)
Go Organic. Growing organic foods with your children, teaches them not only how to grow things themselves, but the importance of not adding chemicals and pesticides. Their vegetables, herbs and flowers are 100% natural, and they should be proud of that! This will instill the idea to continue gardening and growing their own food as they grow up.
Composting. Young children in particular find composting very rewarding. Teach them what they can put in the compost and what should stay out, and then explain why. Kids love observing (and sometimes handling) the worms and bugs in the compost. They will learn how composting is a better choice than throwing scraps and such out, that could be used to grow beautiful and useful plants in their very own garden space.
Jeanine says
Great tips! My kids love helping with gardening. Sadly, I haven't done it in a very long time so we haven't been able to enjoy gardening together. Hoping when we move we can do it again!
Ashley says
This post could not have come at a better time! We are currently doing demo in our new backyard and my daughter is begging to begin her garden. I am definitely going to be bookmarking this and using your tips come late spring. Thanks so much 🙂
Sharon - Her Organized Chaos says
I love this list! I garden with my 8 year old and we have for the past several years and she loves that time with me. I can't wait to try composting! We are going to do that this year and it's exciting. My daughter is a visual learner so working on it with me she's going to get a lot from it.
Tami says
I've decided instead of sending my youngest off to play while I work around the (like I did with my oldest kiddos), I am going to involve him in everything I do. I've always wanted to start a garden, so this'll be perfect to do together.
Liz Mays says
The idea of starting with some easy to grow and heartier plants is a super idea. Kids don't have the gentility and finesse of an adult, so they may over-TLC their plants accidentally. We want them to be successful! Composting is another excellent lesson for them!
Nancy says
Maybe when I have children , they will be much better gardeners than I ever will be. I kill everything. For instance, I bought tulips today. Fresh flowers, right? Put them in a vase about 5 minutes after I got home, and now 3 hours later they're all flopping over. I just don't get it lol. I also kill bamboo, and aloe plants. Black thumb over here.
Cara (@StylishGeek) says
For some reason my daughter, when she was still very young, never got into gardening even if I tried to introduce her. She just didn't like it. But if I bring her in a sandbox she will dwell in it for a long time!
Amanda says
My boys love to help us garden. It teaches them so m, and even though it can be messy, it is such a great learning experience. Thanks for sharing.
Anita Utami says
I love all the tips! We don't have a backyard to start a garden, but our balcony is full with potted tomato plants and herbs. My 2.5 years old toddler helps me watering the plants. When we have our own garden, I will definitely read your posts again 🙂 Thanks for the wonderful post!
Krysta says
I absolutely love gardening and showing my daughter outdoor stuff. I also got her her own mini tools and together we planted some flowers and plants. She enjoyed watering them and watching them grow over time. Super special times with our little ones. Thanks!
Kori says
We plan on having our kids help out with the garden this year. I think there's a lot of benefits from it and it's a great way for all of us to spend time together as a family.
Colette - JamericanSpice says
I love the idea of getting them their own tools. It makes them have such pride and really want to be part of the digging and such.
Okay,that worm creeped me out 🙂 But I've almost touched worms before.
They are good.
I've definitely thought about the composting!
What a good read! Thank you!
April Decheine says
My kids loved gardening! You have great tips. We had a lot of raised beds that each child had all to their own. Cucumbers ere their favorites to grow.
Aga says
Good post Robin! Kids should be familiar with Gardening. Teaching children growing veggies is a fun way to educate 'em. once they're involved in the food that they eat, they start knowing how vegetables are grown and most importantly understand the hard work that it takes to grow them.