10 ways to encourage children to spend time in the garden.

10 ways to encourage children to spend time in the garden.

As I type, the holidays are officially here! What better way to beat the boredom than getting out into the garden?
Here are 10 activities to encourage your little ones to be involved - as recommended by my own three children!
 

 

 

  1. Bugs, birds, worms.
    This is an easy one and the first thing my children mentioned without hesitation. Given the chance, most children love observing and interacting with the animals in the soil, flowers, grass, and trees. You don't need a magnifying glass, a microscope or binoculars, but it helps. In the garden this can mean creating a worm farm, relocating bugs from your plants, planting and tending to the trees whilst looking out for the birds that frequent them, or planting flowers for bees.

 

2. Harvesting food.
If you have a Winter garden there will be something to pick this season. Current favourites at our house are Broad beans and Carrots. Children love something they can pull up out of the ground, or open up and pod, rather than just pick, so think root vegetables and legumes. I also show my children how to wash their harvests if need be and how to prepare them in dishes so they can then eat them. They also learn about the nutritional value of the foods we grow

 

3. Building ponds and wicking beds.
This is particularly for the older children who love to work on a long term project that they can build or put together. My 12 year old son helped to build our wicking beds over the space of a few weeks, and is currently working on researching and building a pond. He is interested in aquatic life and plants at the moment. His go to YouTube channel for all things aquatic is Paul Cuffaro - an 18 year old vlogger who has a special interest in creating ponds, as well as fish and reptiles

 

4. Getting hands on, digging and watering.
The simple mention of 'sand and water play' as it is often termed, is enough to get my children excited, even the eldest! This can then translate into the garden as planting out seedlings, mixing or building up soil, collecting rainwater, or something as simple as watering the plants with a watering can. Get grubby!

 

5. Growing their favourite foods.
Simply taking note of what children's favourite fruits and vegetables are and growing them can make all the difference in the world. Children are going to be invested if they are growing something they consider to be 'yummy' but are not likely to tend to something that they don't even want to eat. This doesn't mean that you can't grow something in the garden that they don't like the taste of - my three children have all enjoyed something fresh from the garden that they have previously refused to eat from a supermarket. Think of their favourite foods as the starting point, keeping in mind that children's taste buds can change drastically over the space of a few weeks.


6. Sowing seeds.
This is a great one. When I was first teaching my own children about gardening, seeds helped to pique their interest. Seeds are tangible, children can hold them in their hands, there are many different types of seeds with interesting patterns, they have stories and a history and children can watch in anticipation of their emergence from underground - then take note of all the different foliage and try to memorise the different leaves and stems and even try to match them with the seed.

 

7. Seed saving.
I have yet to meet a child who does not like to collect and sort: Pokemon cards, Lego projects, dinosaurs,  stuffed animals, board games, rocks and sticks - it is a natural part of being a child. So why not channel that into seed saving?  Most plants need to have a pod cracked open, or a fruit peeled for the seed to be extracted or poured out, they then need be dried and sorted. It couldn't be more perfect.
I have very vivid memories of going home with seeds I collected - shout out to the Oak trees over East for providing me with backpacks full of acorns and to my school desk for holding all my homework so I had plenty of space!


8. Hay/straw bales.
This can be a little out of left field if you don't build up your own soil or use hay or straw for mulch. If you can't justify buying straw or hay then you can look to the next point for a little more incentive, hehe. They are a cheap and effective, and are a go to for me. I have also used to them whole to make straw bale gardens and create the borders of raised beds.
My three love to stack them, sit on them, climb them and build structures out of them. To them, they are like giant Lego that can support their weight. Once, when I was doing quite a big job, they made a mini ninja warrior inspired course!


9. Garden Art: Scarecrows, rocks, recycling and reusing.
You may have seen some of these activities advertised in your community.
Scarecrows are a part of children's stories, and are cheap to create, whilst also serving a purpose. All you need is some second hand clothes, hat and shoes, a few wood pickets and a bale of straw. Stuff the clothes with straw and attach the Scarecrow to the pickets making a + shape, then hammer into the ground.
Decorating rocks is even easier: gather some of those rocks that they have collected, a little paint, some brushes or sticks for dotting and let the children use their imagination. If they are stuck for ideas, animals from the garden is always an easy one, like beetles and bees.
Recycling or reusing common materials from around the house to create pieces or containers for plants. Everything from milk bottles and shoes can become interesting pots. Cans can be turned most anything. A-frames are able to be decorated and hold vines. The list is endless and the sometimes the only limit is our imagination.


10. Simply allow them to play.
Sometimes just stepping out of the way and letting children explore and enjoy gardens on their own terms is all that is needed for them to develop an appreciation and interest. I have often attended garden meetings or rejuvenated whole beds while my children create their own games, fun and entertainment in the garden for hours!