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Gardening Fun with Children
Do you recall your very first plant? Your first garden? Perhaps it
was the geranium seeds you planted in a milk carton or Styrofoam cup
as part of a class project. Perhaps, if you were lucky, it was your
own corner of your parent’s garden, staked out and set up just
for the plants that you chose. My own garden memories include
experiments with watermelon seeds (under the back porch where no one
would step on them – and where, with no sun, they never grew),
orange seeds (the ones in the garden never sprouted. The one I
started in a paper cup on a window sill still grows in my
mother’s back yard) and packets of all sorts of flower seeds.
Instilling a love of gardening in children gives them a lifelong gift
on which they can draw – for pleasure, for sustenance and to add
creativity and joy to their lives. There are so many garden-related
activities and experiments that you can do with a garden. It boggles
the mind that so many resources and references to gardening with
children concentrate on ‘building a sunflower house’ when
there are so many more creative ways to introduce children to the
pure fun of gardening.
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Packets of seeds that are labeled ‘kid gardens’ are one way
to go about it – they do usually contain seeds for plants
that grow quickly, at least in grownup terms. For a child, though,
ten days is an eternity. Instead, take a trip to the local nursery
with your child and let them pick one or two flats of flowers already
in bloom. Invest a few dollars in a garden trowel and fork, and help
your child transplant the seedlings into his own flower bed.
That’s the sort of work/reward ratio that a child understands:
one afternoon of digging and planting equals a flower garden. As the
weeks go on, you’ll find their interest is maintained because
they’re into the FUN part of gardening – watering, picking,
and enjoying.
When they’re ready to start from seed, include them in early
spring seed starting. Instead of buying plants, let them plant them
inside to be ready to transplant in a few weeks. Take a tip from
science teachers everywhere – plant several flats in regular
trays, but plant one very special ‘demonstrator’. Fill a
glass with soil, poke seeds down into the dirt against the side of
the glass and put it on a sunny windowsill. Your child will have the
fascination of watching what happens underground as his seedlings
grow – the seed pod splitting, the roots spreading, and finally,
the miracle of the first tiny shoots pressing upward toward the light
and heat.
There are other very easy gardening projects that yield quick results
for children, projects that have the bonus of being
‘winter-ready’. Cut up a potato, making sure that each
chunk contains at least one eye. Plant it in a cup of dirt with the
eye facing up – and watch it grow. You can do the same with an
onion – just bury the onion in soil with the crown showing. It
will only take days for the shoots to turn green and begin growing.
For more fun gardening ideas for kids, pick up a science activity
book. You’ll find a world of growing and gardening experiments
that children can try, including the ever popular ‘cucumber in a
bottle’ trick.
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