Gardening with Kids: How to Plant a Garden with Children

Gardening with kids is a great way to teach them about nature, responsibility and where our food comes from. When you grow a garden with children, it's best to designate one area that's just for them so they can help from planning the design to harvesting the finished product. A kids' garden can be as small as a few pots or a sizable plot of land; the choice is yours. Just remember to not get too fussy, let the kids in on the whole process and enjoy the time spent together. These tips will help you plan and execute a kids' garden so that you'll have a fun and relaxing experience when you plant a garden with kids.

Allow Kids to Pick The Plants
When gardening with kids, it's important to get them as involved as possible so that they feel a sense of pride and ownership in the finished project. Take your child with you to the nursery to pick out plants, look through seed catalogs together, and talk about favorite flowers, fruits or vegetables. If you child likes certain animals or birds, choose plants that attract them, like a butterfly bush.

Design the Garden Together
Once you have chosen the plants for your garden, scope out the garden bed you'll be planting in and design the placement of the plants together. When you plant a garden with kids, make sure the different types of plants are easily accessible for little arms and hands so that the kids can help water and pick produce. Allow children to choose which colors should go together or whether or not to mix flowers and produce. Get out the paper and crayons and draw a plan together.

Use Kid-Friendly Tools
To grow a garden with children, it's helpful to provide them with their own kid-friendly tools. Not only are they colorful and fun, but smaller, safer tools are perfect for little hands to really be able to help. Depending on the age of your child, plastic may be better than metal; start with a basic set of shovel, rake, watering can and gloves.

Kids' Gardening Tool Sets $10-$55

Choose Natural and Organic Materials
Most pesticides and fertilizers can be very harmful if ingested, especially by children. But the beauty of growing your own garden is that you can grow plants and produce naturally and organically. Use natural gardening methods to keep pests at bay and plants growing well; when you grow a garden with kids, you can feel good about letting them help when there's no danger of them touching toxins.

Choose Hardy Plants for your Zone
When you plant a garden with kids, you want it to be as successful as possible, so choose plants that are easy to grow and appropriate to your gardening zone. Your local nursery or garden center will have plenty of hardy varieties to choose from. Check the labels and pick the ones that require minimal care with maximum results.

Choose Bite-Sized Vegetables
Growing vegetables with kids can be a great way to introduce them to food they may not have tried otherwise. My children can be very picky eaters, especially when it comes to vegetables. But when they've grown the vegetables in our garden, they're much more likely to eat them. When you plant smaller, bite-sized vegetables like cherry or grape tomatoes, sweet banana peppers and sugar snap peas, kids will not only enjoy them, they'll be tempted to eat them right out of the garden. One of the best things about gardening with my kids is watching them pluck fresh produce from our garden and eat it while they play.

Mix Flowers and Edibles
The beauty of gardening is that there are no rules when it comes to what type of garden you want to plant. If your kids like flowers and fruits and vegetables, feel free to mix them in one kid-friendly garden. In a kids' garden, it can be fun to plant favorite produce bordered by flowers your kids love. You can pick vegetables for a meal and enjoy them with a vase of flowers from the garden on the table. Allowing this type of experimentation can get your kids' creative juices flowing and allow them to have a lot of fun as they garden.

Use a Fun Trellis or Support
There are hundreds of different trellis and topiary designs out there; choosing fun shapes for your climbing plants is a lot of fun for a kids' garden. Not only do they add a whimsical touch to your garden, but they add height and allow you to plant more by growing up instead of out. It's also easy for kids to pick edibles off of this type of structure, allowing them to help even more.

Develop a Garden Chore Chart
Gardening with kids is a wonderful educational tool, and it's important for kids to realize that it doesn't stop with the initial planting. Teaching gardening to children should include the whole process, from feeding and watering to harvest. If you make a garden chore chart, kids become a part of the process by taking turns doing things like watering and weeding. Show your child how to do each task, and then allow them to do it themselves (with your supervision, of course!). Kids will not only learn more by doing it themselves, they'll really feel a sense of ownership over their garden and be proud of it.

Add Fun Decorations
Gardens don't only contain plants, they can also hold decorations or animal homes, creating an entire habitat. Experiment with bird houses, hummingbird feeders or even a toad house. Kits to make your own stepping stones or plant signs add a personal touch to your garden, and kids will have fun making and adding special decorative touches to their garden.

Kid's Step Stone Kit $18.43

Wooden Birdhouse Kits Starting at $8.95

For more on gardening:
Gardening in Plant Hardiness Zone 5
How To Plant a Salsa Garden From Seed
Naturally Kill Crabgrass Without Chemicals
How To Remove Dirt and Mud Stains