Gardening With Kids – 5 Ways To Get Them Excited

What are the benefits of gardening with kids?

Well to start with, it’s helpful. Getting kids interested in the garden means that the workload can be shared amongst the family. Very young children may not actually be helping (in fact they might be hindering!) however if they’re happy to be outside doing some gardening activities, parents can be in the garden and get a few things done. I know I need my kids occupied somehow while I spend hours pulling out weeds!

Gardening is also fantastic for child development. Most early childhood learning centres will have a small garden to set the scene for a range of learning experiences.

Gardening helps children’s emotional development

Gardening fosters nurturing in children. Garden plants need help from humans to survive and thrive so having children help in the garden shows them how to care for the plants by providing water, nutrients and sometimes shade. Children will also come across insects in the garden which is an opportunity to teach them kindness. My toddler is a bit too fond of stepping on any creatures he finds but at least I teach him that we don’t hurt anything that isn’t hurting us.

Gardening can also teach kids responsibility. You can give them a particular plant and make them responsible for keeping it healthy. Depending on a child’s age, you can make it part of their chores. My four year old likes to blow the leaves which makes a perfect chore to do just once a week to earn pocket money.

Gardening helps children’s physical development

Gardening gets kids outside; good for getting in some physical activity and vitamin D. Digging, pushing a toy (or real) mower and moving pots all get kids moving.

Growing your own fruits and vegetables is also a great way to encourage healthy eating. Kids can be proud to eat the fruits and vegetables they helped grow themselves. In a small garden, herbs can be grown for kids to snip off and add to meals.

Gardening is a science lesson

I rarely make plans to teach science to my kids but I am thrilled when the chance naturally arises. As we position, water and fertilise plants, I explain to them that plants need sunlight, water and food/nutrients to grow just like humans. Even small people know that trees have trunks, branches and leaves, but getting up close and harvesting different parts of a plant gives me an opportunity to explain the seeds, roots, fruits as they relate to a plant and even the intricate parts of a flower (that I can remember!).

Gardens are a treasure trove for spotting insects and bugs. Without even trying, we see bees, earth worms, ants, dragon flys, beetles, spiders and many more in our suburban garden. It can help to reduce any fear by explaining how useful some of these creatures are. Like how bees help to pollenate flowers so that we have fruit to eat and spiders help us by catching mosquitos.

If you’re growing anything edible, children can begin to conceptualise the paddock to plate system rather than just imagining all our food originates in a supermarket. If you have a composter, you can educate kids about reducing waste, how earth worms are super helpful creatures and how nutrients can be transferred from our food back into the soil for other plants to absorb.

How to make gardening with kids exciting for them

So how do you get kids interested in gardening? To start with, the best thing you can do is to role model being active in the garden and treating it mostly as an enjoyable activity rather than a chore.

Get them their own gear

Having their very own gardening gear will having kids itching to get into the garden, rather than picking up a dirty rusted spade of mum or dad’s. The essentials are a spade and watering can. This gardening bag with watering can and tools makes for a lovely gift. Other kids gardening items you might like to get are gloves, a rake, lawn mower, wheel barrow and tool belt.

Grow their own food

Anything edible will be a winner with kids. The best option I think is fruit that they can pick straight off the tree, bush or vine and eat straight away. Vegetables are something everyone needs to eat more of so consider having some cute baby carrots or cherry tomatoes to encourage eating salad. Not all gardens are suitable for fruit and vegetables but herbs are an excellent option too. You can grow many different herbs in just a small space and they provide and wonderful sensory experience by crushing leaves between fingers and inhaling the various scents.

Make it personal

Let children choose their own plants from a nursery and give them responsibility for looking after them. They can decorate pots and put their name on them to create a sense of ownership.

You can even personalise individual pieces of fruit and vegetables by scratching a child’s name or pictures into the surface while they are still growing. For more details on this see Gardening4Kids Writing Names on Fruits and Vegies.

Let them be adventurous

Let your kids get dirty. It is gardening after all. And wet. If they decide to turn the hose on each other (or you!) within reason just roll with it. My daughter likes to wave the hose around and see how the sunlight disperses in the spray to create a rainbow.

Let your kids participate in any gardening activity they show interest in as long as it is safe. Even though I don’t like my kids to help with weeding since they don’t manage to get all the roots, I certainly don’t want to put them off. I did not envision my children using the blower however it proved not to be too heavy or powerful, so with some guidance on not pointing it at anyone, even my two year old “helps” to blow out the yard.

Read books about gardening

Reading books about gardening and nature will romanticise gardening for kids. It can give them inspiration for the things they can do in the garden themselves. Check out some great kids books about gardening and nature here.

Are you excited to get your child gardening? Are there any other gardening activities your child really enjoys? Let me know in the comments.

More sustainable kids activities

• Picking up litter – a fun and educational activity
• 7 Meaningful Earth Day Activities to Do With Kids