Gardening is a great way to introduce your children to fun summer activities, which spark their interest in the world around them. For example, gardening could spark an interest in ladybugs, earthworms, conservation, and even fishing! However, you’ll need to gear up for kids summer gardening before you start planting.
To make the most of your garden and grab your child’s interest, think about planting several types of gardens. These could include butterfly, wildflower, vegetable gardens, kitchen or herb gardens, rock gardens, water gardens, etc. To start gearing up, here are a few things you’ll want to consider.
- Garden Space – Determine how much space is available. If you only have a small area to work with, consider using window boxes or containers to create mini-gardens.
- Environment – Your plant hardiness zone and landscape will dictate which types of gardens grow best in your area. To avoid problems, work with mother nature instead of against her. For example, if you live in the desert, a water garden might not be a good choice for you.
- Available Time – Gardens require time and attention. If you or the kids have a busy summer schedule and don’t have time to care for the plants every day, consider growing an indoor garden, a low maintenance garden, or a container garden.
- Child’s Age – You can garden with kids of all ages, from toddlers to teens. The key is to know what will be interesting for each age level. This isn’t as hard as it sounds. Just build on your child’s previous experiences.
- Child’s Interests – Choose the garden type by taking your child’s interests into consideration. For example, if your son likes frogs, fish, or bugs, you might want to plant a vegetable or water garden. Does your daughter like butterflies, birds, or cooking? You might want to plant a butterfly, wildflower, or herb garden.
As you plan and plant the garden, talk about each plant; how it grows, how much room it needs, and then give the kids a title, such as Director of Water Resource (this would be for one kid to oversee the watering of the plants); or Director of Roots and Shoots (this would be for another kid to oversee the weeding), etc.
Extend Your Gardening Activities
If you’ve chosen to grow a vegetable garden, you can extend the bonding and education time well beyond the growing season. So what can you do after the vegetable garden is planted? You bring the garden indoors with cooking lessons!
For great step-by-step, illustrated, recipes and even more food related activities see our growing list of educational, seasonal cooking lessons on our cooking site. Great for homeschooling lessons or easy family bonding activities.
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