As a mom who loves all things creative, from designing cozy corners in our home to photographing little life moments, I’ve found that the garden can be a hidden gem for family connection. It’s more than just a patch of grass or a place for flowers. With a little imagination, your backyard can become a haven for memory-making and hands-on fun with your kiddos.
If you’ve ever looked outside and thought, “One day, I’ll make something beautiful out there,” then now’s the time. Gardening with kids is not only a great way to get them outdoors and away from screens, it’s also a sweet opportunity to bond and create something meaningful together.
In this post, I’ll share some of my favorite ways to get children involved in garden projects, simple ideas that turn outdoor chores into joyful moments.
Buy Them Their Own Tools
You can start by buying them their own tools for the garden. Depending on how old they are, you’ve got to make sure that they are safe for their age group, as the last thing that you want is for them to hurt themselves while they are tending to the garden. As well as that, you need to ensure that whatever set you purchase is the right size for them, otherwise they are going to struggle. Giving them an adult pitchfork when they’re six years old for example simply isn’t going to be helpful.
It’s nice for them to have their own dedicated sets, as this helps them feel as though they are essential to the process of keeping the garden in good condition. As well as that, kids like having things that are theirs, so that’s a reason in itself.
Come Up With A Plan Together
In order to help them feel included, ensure that they are confident in making decisions and understanding what it’s like to have their voice heard, you should come up with a plan together of what you want to do to your outdoor space. Think about where you want things to go, discuss through the various options, and generally come up with a plan that you can follow for your outdoor space.
It might get to a point where they want to do things that aren’t possible or are going to be too much maintenance, but you’ve just got to do your best here. Explain to them what is and is not possible, explain to them why things might not be able to be done the way that you want them to, and keep them in the loop. Just telling them no isn’t going to make them feel included the way that you want them to, so you need to take the time to explain this all. As well as helping them to feel included, you’re also ensuring that they learn about gardening, so they know the information for next time.
Plant Fruit And Vegetables
While it might seem boring to some, planting fruit and vegetables can actually be super fun for a child. They get to put their hands in dirt, they get to play with water, and they get to see something grow over time. It’s true that kids might lose interest if it takes a little too long, but that’s okay because you can bring them out to show them the progress when there is some. This will encourage them to want to continue planting new things, so you should end up with a fair amount of fruits and veggies ready to eat.
Creating a vegetable patch or a place to grow your fruit though can sometimes be a challenge. You’ve got to find somewhere suitable in your garden, and then you’ve got to build or dig a nice patch for them to go. It takes time, and it’s tough work, but once that hard part is done, the fun can begin.
Flowers Are Beautiful
It’s a garden, so you’re going to need some flowers, right? You can head to your local nursery and browse a range of different plants for your space, some in pots, some to be directly planted into the ground depending on what you and your child have decided you want. Think about colors, think about placement, think about the types of flowers you want to get and what they actually need as well as so much more.
But, if you don’t have the time to tend to flowers, and you don’t want to purchase them simply for them to die, you can look into using artificial flowers for decoration instead. These can be used to decorate sitting areas, around the gutters, and any other area that needs a little brightening up.
Create A Kids Play Area
The final thing that we’re going to mention is creating a kids play area in the back garden to give your kids somewhere to play. If you start by deciding on what area you’re going to use for this, and then you can work out what you’re going to put where. If you have enough space, you might want to think about getting a trampoline, swingset and/or slide for them to enjoy in the warmer months. This will give them hours of fun, and the fact that they helped you to build it will make it all the better for them which is a huge bonus.
Hopefully, you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you should be doing to try and get your kids involved in creating a beautiful garden. It doesn’t have to be a nightmare to make this happen, you just need to use gentle encouragement and show them the wonders of creating something incredible. It might work, it might not, but at least you’re giving it your best shot.
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