How to Start a Garden with Your kids

So, you want to spend time outside with your kids planting a summer garden.  However, you are not quite sure how to get started.  If you are a parent of toddlers, you are probably wondering if there are any developmental benefits your kids can gain from gardening or what type of a garden to plant and how to get your kids interested in gardening.

Overall there are three challenges that many parents face which can be solved through planting a summer garden with their kids:

1.The struggle to get their children to eat vegetables;

2. How to get their children to play more outside;

3. The challenge to afford summer activities for their children.

Luckily, planting a summer garden can be a fun way to get your children to go outdoors more while spending less time inside playing video games and watching TV. Furthermore, if you are really lucky, it will make your kids want to eat some of those vegetables that they think they dislike.  And, planting a summer garden is very affordable option typically in the range of $100 for a small garden.

Here are some tips that will make planting a summer garden enjoyable for your children to work in.

Let’s get started

Gardening Basics You Will Need

Before you begin gardening with your kids, you will want to arrange to have the following things done.

1. Location – select a location that has lots of sunlight

2.  Soil – You will need to purchase soil rich in nutriments specifically formulated for the type of plants you plan on growing.

3.  Beds – garden beds should be 6 to 8 inches deep.

4.  Planning – create a garden plan to layout where each plant will be planted.  This will be helpful to kids, especially if this is their first time gardening..

5.  Garden Tools – rakes, hoes, spades, trowels, gloves and watering cans are staples.

Choosing a Garden Type

Next, you will need to decide what type of a garden you would like to plant with your kids.  You can choose to plant either a vegetable garden or flower garden.

Vegetable Garden

If you choose to plant a vegetable garden, plant vegetables that your children will (Hopefully) enjoy eating.

If you want to get your kids interested in eating vegetables, growing them in a garden can help. For example, your children might get a lot more excited about corn – maybe even excited enough to eat it – when they can pick it off a tall corn stalk. You could grow cucumbers – and then show them how to make pickles by soaking them in vinegar. If your kids like French fries, grow your own potatoes to make homemade fries.

TIP: 5 Best Vegetables to Plant with Kids

Cucumber

Cherry Tomatoes

Pumpkin

Carrots

Snow Peas

Flower Garden

On the other hand, if you choose to grow a flower garden plant flowers that grow fast.

Children tend to have shorter attention spans. Therefore, to make gardening fun for them, find fast-growing flower plants that will keep your kids interested in your garden. For instance, sunflowers and morning glories grow much faster than most other flowers. Plus, they grow into very beautiful flowers that your kids will enjoy taking care of.

Depending on which type of garden you are going to plant you will need to purchase the following:

Flower or vegetable seeds

Flower or Vegetable Seedling Plants

TIP:  5 Best Flowers to Grow With Kids

Daisy

Merigold

Woolly Lambs Ear

Snapdragons 

Strawflower

Use Gardening as a Fun Outdoor Activity

Most parents complain that their children spend too much time indoors – playing video games and watching TV – and not enough time getting exercise outdoors. That’s why you should involve your kids in planting a summer garden. The activities around planting and maintaining a garden will keep them occupied and from getting bored outside. A little physical labor won’t hurt most kids. They can dig a small hole, plant a seed, cover the seed with dirt, and then water and tend the plant each day. Believe it or not, many kids will actually love gardening.

Gardening Helps Your Kid’s Development

Gardening with your kids will help them gain useful life skills that fosters their development.  The life skills gardening can help them develop include; physical development, locomotor skills, body management skills and object control skills, fine motor skills, sensory stimulation, literacy skills and cognitive skills.  Akin to these development milestones, they will build bonds with each other and create memories from your experiences together in the garden.

Take Time to Teach Your Kids About Nature

Treat your summer garden like an outdoor classroom, where you can teach your kids about plant science. For instance, explain to them that every plant starts off as a tiny seed. However, in order for that seed to sprout and grow, it needs good soil, water, and sunlight. Create little lesson plans about each plant. You can find a lot of good examples online.

Incorporate Other Subjects to Teach Your Kids About

When it comes to using gardening as a way to teach your kids, you don’t have to stop at plant science. Gardening actually encompasses many subjects. For example, you can create an interactive math lesson when calculating the space needed between plants. Have your kids keep track of the number of plants as a counting exercise. Your children could keep a garden journal – which would make an excellent writing exercise. If you grow vegetables that were commonly grown by pioneers, discussing it could be a fun history lesson. Search the Internet for more ideas on how to incorporate learning into gardening.

Find Interesting Items to Decorate Your Garden

The fun in your garden doesn’t just have to stop with the plants. Find things to put around your garden that your kids would find cool. Garden gnomes can be fun. Bird baths and bird feeders are nice because they can attract a lot of beautiful birds that are fun to watch. Have your kids make signs for your garden as a crafting project. You can find a lot of cool ideas on Pinterest.

Teach Your Kids About Work

Gardening is a great way to teach kids about having a work ethic. For example, you can teach them that people have to work for what they have by putting in the time and effort to earn it. A beautiful summer garden will be a great reward for all of the hard work that your kids put into it. Many parents pay their kids for gardening and yard work. However, that’s a personal decision that only you can make.

Helpful Tips on Making Your Garden Flourish

The goal of creating a summer garden that your kids will enjoy working in is ending up with a beautiful garden. Therefore, you can follow some simple tips to maximize your garden’s success:

• Plant your garden after the last frost.
• Buy quality potting soil for planting.
• Adequately water all of your plants.
• Take the time to pull weeds, so they don’t kill – or stunt the growth of – your plants.
• Search the Internet for gardening tips for where you live.

In short, your kids don’t have to spend the summer months inside, nor complaining about being bored all the time. Furthermore, the learning doesn’t have to stop just because they aren’t in school. A summer garden can be a great place to watch your kids learn, play, and grow while creating fun childhood memories. You will enjoy watching your kids flourish alongside the plants that they are growing in the garden.