Dirt has always been one of the kids’ best toys, so home gardening could just be one fun activity for your children. Excite them by allowing them to pick whichever plant they want to grow. Here are some tips to help you make your little ones become enthusiastic with home gardening. It worked for me!
1. Choose the right plants
Kids will more likely choose plants and flowers with bright colors, so have a load of varieties of plants. Examples of bright flowers are zinnias and cosmos; these will keep your children fascinated. Don’t forget the sunflowers. Anything that is tall and fuzzy will surely overwhelm a kid. Make sure these plants will not cause any allergic reactions from your kid.
2. Starting seeds
Give your children the freedom to help you with the staring seeds. Some seeds might be too small for the tiny fingers, but their digits can be of help in covering them with dirt.
3. Home Gardening Memoir
To last the kids’ enthusiasm until the plants grow, make them create a home gardening journal. This activity will allow them to use their imagination to sketch on what the plants will be like and write down when they placed in the ground the seeds and when they first witnessed a sprout pushing up.
4. Make sure that the garden is somewhere very visible for the kids.
Before you start home gardening, pick a spot where the kids often play or walk by. Every time they see and pass by their garden, the more they will sight changes.
5. Dirt playing
Always remember that children are fond of playing with dirt or mud. They can help you ready the soil, even if what they are only doing is stomping on the clumps. To make home gardening with the kids more fun, you can provide them with kid-sized tools to make home gardening very engaging for them.
6. Your kids own the garden
A picture of each plant will enable the children to foresee what the flowers will look like. You can also put your child’s name on a placard, so everyone can see that it’s their garden.
7. Playing with the water
Playing with water is right up there with playing with dirt. Look for a small watering can that they can use to water their garden. You can show them how to let the water go right to the roots of the plants. Hoses want only trouble. They are simply formidable for little hands to control.
8. Kids commit mistakes
Adults, too, are sometimes impatient. Give the kids full control to their garden. If they create a mess, let it be, it’s their mess. Allow them to get pleasure from it and take dignity in their own piece of territory. Just don’t forget to tell them how to clean up that mess.
I was wanting to plant flowers and stuff this summer and I was afraid he was to young. But I think we might just go ahead and do it. Thank you for your post .
Love the idea of a journal! That’s so unique and I’ve never thought of that before.
My boys love to help me whenever we do gardening. This weekend we will try to plant some red bell peppers and beans!! 🙂
We have a family garden and the kids help weed, plant and harvest it. It’s such a great activity to do together. Mine also have a water table and they play with it for hours and hours. Tons of great ideas, thanks for sharing.
Besos, Sarah
Blogger at Journeys of The Zoo
I wish i could do some gardening, unfortunately we live in an apartment. I can plant through a pot though
These are great tips, thanks for sharing. I started a garden with my girls a few years ago, it was great!
my kids love to help in the garden…my daughter is old enough that this year we’ve set aside her own spot. She’s started a few herbs and a pepper =)
My kids have helped with our small garden a lot this year. They had a blast helping to pull weeds right after it was tilled. I think it was getting filthy that was the fun part! We have grown lots of cucumbers and our watermelons are doing great! They are always very proud when they pick something they helped to grow! 🙂
My son has asked in the past if he can and I have always told him no. You have provided some very good pointers on how to keep them focused and interested. Thank you!!