I’m only starting to appreciate the magic of gardens. It’s an enjoyment that comes about only by being in it; under rustling trees, with the warm sun streaming through. In the multitudes of small worlds within the garden, new life is created every day. While seasons bring about steady, predictable changes, the garden is never static, never the same.
I am not a gardener, but I want to be. I want to grow into gardening with my children. There’s so much to discover, so much beauty to appreciate in the garden.
Although we live in a small home with a small garden, we are keen to use up every nook and cranny and appreciate what we do have.
I’m taking baby baby steps as I grow into gardening with kids. To start off, here are five simple ways to begin enjoying gardening with kids:
1. Provide kids with a small set of gardening tools. Small, lightweight tools that actually work. It helps to set some rules as to where they can or can’t dig.
2. Music. Be it the radio, or your phone and a nifty bluetooth enabled speaker – bring some music into the garden. It lifts everyone’s mood and makes time fly.
3. Have a sand pit / sand table in the garden. These are priceless when gardening with toddlers. Our sand table always gets used whenever we head into the garden.
4. Watering plants & saving water. Watering plants was one of my first memories of gardening as a child; I loved it to no end. My kids love watering plants too, but we need to be careful not to waste water. To minimise water wastage, we’ve tried to grow plants that don’t need a lot of water and can survive hot summers. We also don’t put our sprinklers in a bad spot or on for too long. Lastly, we don’t water our plants everyday instead, we water our plants for a longer time every few days.
5. Weeding. Where there is a garden, there are sure to be weeds. Weeds need to be removed regularly or they smother other plants. The day after some rain, is always a great time to get out into the garden with kids and pull out those weeds by hand. It’s important to pull out the roots, or the weeds will be back before you know it.
How do you enjoy gardening with kids?
More Activities for Preschoolers
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