Easy Landscaping Projects for Kids

Spending time with your family this summer is not always easy with work and the kids off playing with their friends. However, if you can manage to spare some weekend time to spend with your kids, but need to get some yard work done, then here are some suggestions to get the whole family outside. If you plan the project first that you want your kids to handle, then that's half the battle. The other half is keeping them interested long enough to make it worth the effort. The first thing to do is decide, with your kids, what they are going to plant or decorate with and where they will do this. If you offer a specific section of your yard, this will give your kids a feeling of ownership and power over their space. This may be one way of getting and keeping them interested, but you may want to think about how that plan worked with the pet they don't take care of anymore. You can section off an area in your yard which belongs just to the them and they can do whatever they want with that space.

One idea which works well since it gets your children interested in something because they will have a vested interest in it is a vegetable garden. This is a great way to get them started since packets of seeds aren't going to cost you and arm and a leg. so if all goes bust, you're kids can try again. Also, since this could hit or miss with them, if they decide it's about as tedious as cleaning their room, you haven't lost a lot of money in dead plants. This idea also gives them more power over what they can do since you can take them to the store and they can learn how to pick out the right seeds for this or any time of year. When you take them to the home improvement store or nursery to pick out seeds, explain and show them how the codes on the back of the packets work so they can see what vegetables will thrive in your region and when. They can then pick out what to plant and maybe you can even talk them into trying something new since it will be an experience to watch it grow. Who knows, maybe if they grow their own brussel sprouts, they'll be more apt to eat them. Okay, maybe not, but have them at pick out a couple vegetables or fruits that they're not familiar with so they can see how they grow, hopefully. When you get home I would briefly explain to your kids what is needed to plant the seeds properly, however let them make their own decisions, because it doesn't really come down to whether or not the stuff grows, but spending quality time together. I think we all know that kids respond better when they get to feel older by making their own decisions than if we tell them what to do and with this project, the results will not be devastating whatever happens. If you cover all the bases as to what can happen to the plants if they're not taken care of, if they die or don't grow, it shouldn't even be as upsetting, which is usually brief, like when the goldfish died.

When I was a little girl my parents had given me permission to use one of their large planters outside the house to grow vegetables. I didn't do very well, but I got to do it on my own and I remember how excited I was when I picked my first cherry tomato for me and the first radish (yuck) for my dad. What a sense of accomplishment I had when a few items that I grew made it onto the table for dinner. I don't recall this garden lasting long past the first growth of vegetables, however minor it was, but it was something I could always do again since I now knew how to do it.

If your kids aren't interested in growing vegetables or even herbs, which are easier to care for, then have them help you with some border plants. Unfortunately, this probably won't last long as it's going to seem like a chore instead of something fun or interesting. One other option is to again, incorporate a project for your kids to do in their own area which will work with your own landscaping design.

Children can gain more when given a task that they can make their own and giving them their own space to do it in really helps. If the growing plan doesn't pan out, then offer to give them an area where they can do what they want. With all the latest eco-friendly choices a lot of us are making, then why not instill some of this thinking into your kids. I know that a lot of people are beginning to redo their yards in a more eco-friendly way, which means less green and heartier plants that require less water. It also means you have a lot of ground which needs to be covered in something so you don't have grass and weed issues later on. One thing you can do is take your kids to the store and allow them to pick out their own items to landscape with, such as rocks, plants and decorative pieces. I'm sure most landscaping nursery's, like Lowes and Home Depot, carry windmills, gazing balls, animal decorations and much more so they can get creative in what they do. Have them pick out what ground cover they want, whether mulch or rocks and in what color. Then you can suggest some eco-friendly plants and have them pick out a few they like, but stay away from cactus unless you plan to plant it yourself. Some options are the Bird of Paradise for something colorful, mondo grass for a nice border and one thing I can never seem to kill is any Hibiscus.