Gardening with Kids: Fun and Educational Activities for Children
In an era dominated by screens and virtual experiences, there is a growing need to foster a deeper connection between children and the natural world. Gardening provides an ideal platform for children to engage with nature, learn about plants and ecosystems, and develop a sense of responsibility and appreciation for the environment. Beyond its educational value, gardening also offers a multitude of fun and hands-on activities that can captivate the imaginations of young minds.
Gardening with children not only teaches them about the life cycle of plants but also instills important values such as patience, responsibility, and environmental stewardship. It encourages them to get their hands dirty, fostering a sensory experience that stimulates their senses and strengthens their connection with the natural world. Here are some of the fun and educational gardening activities that you can do with your kids.
Egg Carton Seedling Planter
Not only is this a fun way to start the growing process, it’s also a productive way to teach your child the art of repurposing and recycling. Egg cartons are the perfect vessel to grow seedlings before they’re ready for the big time and become a part of your garden. There’s tons of space to plant seeds, they’re biodegradable, and they’re readily available in most households.(Pro tip, you can add discarded egg shells to your homemade fertilizer mix.)Encourage your child to decorate the outside of the egg carton and make it theirs to enhance the experience. They’ll love every minute of it.
Making Fertilizer
Making homemade fertilizer isn’t only super beneficial for your plants, it’s a fun and messy way to teach your child to properly care for a garden. Making fertilizer is relatively easy. You and your child will take a large container and use it to slowly gather kitchen scraps, small twigs, grass clippings, and other organic matter. By the time you’ve collected enough, your fertilizer will likely already have begun decomposing and turning into delicious plant food.
Making fertilizer is a process you can explain to your child and they will be intrigued by it. Then comes the extra fun step – time to get messy. You and your child can make good use of the fertilizer once it’s ready for the garden. Take the fertilizer and mix it in with the soil of your choice, take your time and be thorough to ensure it’s evenly incorporated. Then, you can plant your beauties in the lovely mixture together with your child and watch as the plants thrive over time.
Decorating
A simple, yet always fun garden activity to do with your child is to let them decorate and personalize different tools and signs in the garden. Whether it be stakes, signs to identify plants, planters, or the tools used throughout the garden, it’s such a fun way to get them involved and personalize the garden with splashes of color and childlike creativity.
Grow in a Clear Container
One of the most intriguing parts of the planting process is watching how it happens right before your eyes. Children love to explore the reasons why and how a process works. Use clear containers to plant seedlings before moving them into planters, or garden plots. That way your child can marvel at the change of a seed into a seedling.
Build a Watering Puddle
If you’re an avid gardener, then you likely expect and welcome pollinators and other gentle creatures into your space. Pollinators do wonders for the ecosystem and should be respected and cared for. You and your child can do your part by creating a refreshing watering puddle for thirsty pollinators. You’ll want to take a shallow container and fill it with no more than a few inches of water. Before you add the water, be sure to incorporate plenty of rocks, pebbles, sticks, and other items of varying sizes for pollinators to safely use as a landing space.