Gardening with Kids (without Losing your Mind)
Gardening is a great way to bond with kids and make memories, but sometimes it’s stressful or scary to even think of including them in important gardening tasks. Have no fear! Here are some suggestions for gardening with kids:
- First things first: make sure the kids are fed and rested to keep those little tempers from flaring. Also, remember to apply some sunscreen and/or have them wear a sunhat if it’s a sunny day.
- Leave the simple stuff for young kids: watering, large seed sowing, helping transplant seedlings, and picking fruit and veg are great tasks for toddlers and young kids.
- Older kids can also help with: small seed sowing, light weeding, mulching, raking, sweeping, light pruning of vegetables (under your watchful eye, of course), and bug removal.
Tip: It’s helpful to let your kids know beforehand what you will be doing in the garden, so they have some idea what to expect or look forward to :).
- Consider adding other fun garden-related activities, such as painting stones or sticks to use as plant markers.
- Overall, just try to relax and have fun. Leave the really important garden tasks (i.e. anything involving power tools or chemicals) for when you’re alone.
- And don’t forget to let your little one try a piece of whatever they helped pick. My daughter was always excited to try veggies from the garden because it was fun and new. If nothing is ready for picking, slice up some store-bought veggies and pass them off as being from the garden. Who knows? You may just get your picky eater to try some new veggies!
