Gardening with Kids

I love to garden. And I have two kids. So by default I am often gardening with kids. Here are things my children have enjoyed doing in the garden. Perhaps these activities would also be of interest to the youngsters in your life? 

A few things first:

Perennial: Plant that returns every year

Annual: Plant that only grows for one season

Frost-free date: The day that it’s generally safe to plant in the spring. In my area it’s around May 15, give or take a week.

1.Grow an easy herb garden

Buy and plant perennial herbs like oregano, sage, and fennel (pictured above). Perennial chives and mint also make tasty additions. Just be sure to plant mint in a pot and not directly into the ground since it’s too aggressive of a grower. I buy basil (an annual) as a plant, but dill (also an annual) is easy to grow from seeds.

2. Plant a simple butterfly garden

A butterfly garden can be very simple. Plant a few Butterfly Milkweeds (Asclepias tuberosa) and Purple Coneflowers. Both are pictured above. Milkweeds are the only host plants for Monarch butterflies and their caterpillars only eat this. Round out the garden with tall zinnias bought as plants or started by seed. A variety of butterflies will stop by all three of these plants to get nectar. Here’s another post on a simple butterfly garden.

3. Raise caterpillars

If you should be lucky enough to have butterflies lay eggs on a host plant, it can be so incredible to watch the life cycle from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. We’ve raised Monarch caterpillars that were on our Butterfly Milkweed and Black Swallowtail caterpillars that were on our fennel. Here’s another post on how to raise caterpillars.

4. Buy some veggie plants

I like to get most of my veggies as plants at greenhouses (as opposed to starting the seeds inside). There’s something about picking a tomato or cucumber, and tasting it, off the vine that’s hard to resist. We also buy peppers, zucchini, kale, and collards as plants.

5. Plant veggie seeds

Peas are easy to grow from seed and can be planted outside before the frost-free date. Beans, both pole and bush varieties, are also easy to grow from seed outside, as is lettuce.

6. Plant potatoes

Potatoes are easy to grow and so satisfying to harvest! Either use some organic potatoes you might have at home or buy seed potatoes at a nursery (Schram’s in Portage carries them). You can cut the potatoes into a few pieces before planting, as long as each part has an eye. I dig a trench, place them about a foot apart, and cover them with dirt. As the plant grows I add more dirt to “hill” them. When the plant is about 6 inches tall cover soil to almost the top of the leaves. The plants flower in the summer and then the foliage kind of withers by the fall. It’s at this point we harvest in the fall before the first hard frost. Digging for potatoes is probably one of the most exciting garden activities for my kids.

7. Plant beets

We planted beets by seed last year and they were about as fun for Charlie to harvest as the potatoes were.

8. Plant annual flowers

We can’t help but pick out a few favorite annuals at the greenhouse each spring. Our favorites include snap dragons (pictured above), zinnias, geraniums, marigolds, and cosmos. They add constant color to the garden. In addition, they can easily be snipped for bouquets and will regrow more flowers.

9. Make flower bouquets

One of our most favorite garden activities is making flower bouquets! We love to have them in our own house to enjoy and to give to friends and family. We save glass jars so we can give bouquets without needing the vase back. You can put anything in a bouquet: annual flowers, perennial flowers, and herbs! Just pull off any bottom leaves before you put the stem in water. Here’s another post on making bouquets from garden flowers.

10. Let kids use clippers

Semi-related to making bouquets is using clippers (a trusty pair of red clippers is in the picture above). My kids have used clippers (pretty dull ones) since they were about 2. There is something very satisfying to them in clipping! Besides using clippers when when making bouquets, they also like to clip flowers when they’re done blooming and dried flower stalks.

11. Harvest into a basket

For some reason, my kids are more excited to pick veggies when they can put them into a basket, haha.

12. Water with a can or hose

My kids have enjoyed the simple task of helping water plants with a watering can and can be thrilled at the prospect of watering with the hose sprayer.

13. Get a bird bath

I might get more enjoyment out of spotting the birds drinking and bathing in the bird bath, but my kids humor me when I excitedly point out any bathing birds. Since the bird bath water should be changed about every three days, this can give kids another opportunity to use the hose! Here’s another post on birding 101 for kids and adults.

14. Let them use any toy vehicles to help

Charlie received a kids’ tractor as a birthday gift from several family members when he turned 4. It has been the best gift. Both kids have really enjoyed tooling around in it and are happy to use it to transport plant material from the garden to the compost pile.

15. Grow Raspberries

We’ve attempted to grow a few different types of fruit and raspberries have been the clear winner. They grow well without needing to do much to them. Every year we look forward to summer days of picking and savoring raspberries.

I’m a firm believer than anyone can garden! Whether you’re an experienced gardener or learning to garden yourself, the kids in your life will be thrilled to get their hands dirty with you.

Is there anything else you’ve found that kids love to do in the garden?