How to Get Your Kids Gardening
Gardening with kids is fun and has some major benefits. It helps their physical and mental health and teaches them science and life skills. Having small hands in your garden beds might seem like a task while keeping your own gardening goals, but both are possible and fruitful!
The Benefits of Gardening For Kids
If you know the peaceful feeling of breathing fresh air, feeling cool dirt between your fingers, and using your muscles to produce something healthful, then gardening is definitely something you’ll want to share with your kids.
Kids benefit from gardening just as much as adults do. A garden bed is essentially an open space for kids to learn a myriad of concepts while improving their mental health and self-esteem, getting necessary sensory input, and learning science hands-on.
Spending time with your child outside and away from screens is a great way to connect with them, too. Collectively working on something that takes time and patience is a wonderful way to support your relationship with your kiddo with regular check-ins as you water and track the growth of your garden.
Plus, kids who spend time in nature grow into happier adults. As they garden with you or alongside you, they’ll learn resilience through trial and error, patience as the garden grows, and responsibility with the care of their plants. They’ll get some healthy tasty snacks too!
Just like mud play, gardening can also boost the immune system, with exposure to beneficial microbes in the soil. The same microbes also help combat depression as they activate the neurons that produce serotonin. Along with getting in some natural vitamin D from the sun, gardening is also a sneaky form of exercise that uses large muscle groups and repetitive movements.
Gardening Basics for Kids
Now that we know that kids who garden will gain strength, a robust immune system, happiness, and suffer from less anxiety, here are the basics on how to get them involved in gardening. There’s fun to be had!
Make it Accessible
The best way to start getting any child digging in the dirt with purpose is to make it accessible for them, no matter what size they are. If you have the space, a low and small garden box for each child to plan is great!
Or, if you have a small space or a balcony, each can have a pot or a small planter. As long as they can reach it easily, they can get their hands in and accomplish something.
Consider investing in child-sized garden tools and gloves. Small hands can do plenty of productive work, and it’s much more achievable with the right size tools for the job. I suggest using sturdy tools that can last several years and several kids.
Tip: If you don’t have your own children to reuse small gardening tools, pass them to a women’s shelter or a community garden when you’re done with them!
Growing a garden with children is a great time for them to throw on their old play clothes and get muddy. Knowing they’ll get dirty and planning for it makes for a more relaxing experience for everyone. Plus, playing in mud is healthy for kids’ brains and a great way to keep them engaged with a gardening project.
I recommend children use a watering can to take care of their garden plants instead of a hose to avoid over-watering. If you’ve ever handed a small child a hose, you’ll understand why!
Make it Seasonal
Taking a seasonal approach to gardening with kids is a good way to get started. Have a picture list of various plants for each season and let them choose their own.
I like to use a calendar to visualize how many days it will take to grow the seeds into plants, as well as when harvest celebration days will be. It’s something to look forward to!
Seasonal gardening can start at any age, from toddler on up. Younger kids can pick one plant or herb to grow, and it can be their job to water it and go with you as you do gardening tasks. Older kids can do more, read the seed packets, and even build a small trellis.
A seasonal harvest is a great time to get fresh homegrown food on the table and use some for crafts! Make a special meal on a big harvest day, and let your kiddos help prepare it.
Make it Fun
A huge part of getting kids gardening is to make it fun. Keep it relaxed, and let go of any preconceived notions of a perfect garden outcome. Getting children involved means it won’t be perfect, and it’s a learning process. Sometimes, their garden plants will fail, and they’ll learn from it!
Allowing them the freedom and support to figure out what went wrong when their plant doesn’t grow or doesn’t do well is a life lesson in resilience. So, let them dig in and try things. Let them experiment. Let them be independent to choose what they want to grow, where, and how.
Safety rules, of course, are always important. I like to keep my gardens organic, as I don’t feel like kids a chemicals are a good mix. You never know what a toddler might decide they want to taste. Dirt with snail repellent, for instance, in my parenting experience!
Other fun projects kids can do in the garden are make plant markers, a worm bin for vermicomposting, or upcycled seed starters.
Make it Magical
I love a magical garden, and often, the magic is in small details or the purpose behind a garden. Consider adding fairy garden decorations throughout your children’s garden beds for a bit of whimsy as they watch the magic of their seeds growing.
It’s always a good idea to attract pollinators to the garden, but they also add to the magic and peaceful feeling. A bee bath, a bat house, a bird feeder, and attracting hummingbirds make nice additions to bring beneficial species to your garden.
Don’t underestimate the magical feeling of wildflowers in the summer and dandelions in the spring. Outdoor solar lights like these mushroom pathway lights work wonders, too!
Best Seeds For Small Hands
Letting your kiddos pick their garden seeds based on what they love to eat is a great way to do it. There is nothing like eating homegrown snacks right off the vine!
For younger kids, try to incorporate some that grow quickly, like lettuce and radishes, for quicker gratification. This list of 10 easy vegetables to grow is a solid start for success, too.
Here are some ideas to get you started on seeds that work great in little hands for easy planting:
- Pumpkins
- Corn
- Morning glories
- Calendula
- Sunflowers
- Pole beans
- Cucumbers
- Carrots
- Strawberries
- Cherry tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Lettuce
I also love an herb garden for young kids! Most are quite resilient, low to the ground, and are a gift that keep on giving, as they can be used in so many ways. Try growing these herbs with your littles:
- Thyme
- Lavender
- Chamomile
- Mint
- Oregano
Theme Garden Boxes
A super fun way to get a child excited about their garden box is to let them pick a theme where they will grow a collection of plants that make a certain recipe or have a purpose, like a butterfly garden or a pollinator garden which are both excellent themes!
Here are a few more garden themes that might spark your child’s interest:
Pizza Garden
- Tomatoes
- Basil
- Onions
- Garlic
- Oregano
- Arugula
- Spinach
- Bell peppers
Tea Garden
- Chamomile
- Mint
- Wild rose
- Lemon balm
- Echinacea
Miniature Garden
- Cherry tomatoes
- Jack be little pumpkins
- Ground tomatoes
- Mini bell peppers
- Mini cucumbers
Salsa Garden
- Tomatoes
- Tomatillos
- Onions
- Garlic
- Jalapeños
- Bell peppers
- Cilantro
Stir Fry Garden
- Snap peas
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Bok choi
- Bell peppers
- Onion
Big or Small, Short or Tall
Creating a garden with your kids is worth it, regardless of how big or small it is, and regardless of your child’s age. It fosters healthy habits and creates connections. Your child will learn and grow as the garden grows!
Most importantly, make a garden and a routine that works for your family. However you do it, getting those hands in the dirt, breathing the fresh air, and growing healthy snacks is a beautiful experience for your kids!