Teaching Little Ones to Garden

At what age do you think it's a good time to start introducing your kids/grandkids to gardening? What sort of project do you recommend they start out with?

 

my children and grandchildren have always come out with me from before the could walk ,
you involve them in what ever they show an interest in ..

when they like to dig you give them a spade and a small raised bed to dig in .....

when they like to plant seeds give them some loo roll pots and seeds to plant ....
( IF they plant seeds Remember to plant back up one as they break their hearts if they die, for an impatient child if they plant seeds for flowers after a few weeks of lovingly watering them try and find one in a shop or garden that is looking like what was on the seed packet it will help to hold there interest.

if they like bugs teach them which ones are good and which ones arent so good

if you grow veg make sure it is one they like so they will "GET IT"

talk to them about every thing you do, even if you think they are not listening ( you would be surprised of how much they absorb )

show them how things have changed ( take photos so they can look back )

there are so many ways i could bore you to death .... if i havent already

 

Not a single word of that was boring Kaz. It all came from your heart and it was lovely,

 

I remember earlier this year letting my 3yr. old Grandson plant his own carrots in a pot.
An hour later he wanted to go and see if the carrots were ready!
Seems like you are right Kaz. They can't wait for long before expecting to see results.

 

thank you jenny

Gcc i have a grandson who couldnt wait he was just like his mam was,
i even cheated when i started growing things with him .....
i would sow carrot seeds in a small wooden box with my name on it a few weeks later i would do the same again with grampa's name on it then i would tell Toby a few weeks later that he was going to grow carrots and he would sow in his box.....

Remember on blue peter / kids programme they tell you to put your cut off carrot tops in a dish on wet tissue and it will grow hair .......i would do this about a week later and pop them in the soil when he was due to visit ...... then when he got really impatient and wanted to pull his carrots if enough time had passed between Mine being sown i would let him pull a few of mine if not i have even run to farmers shop to BUY carrots tops and all burried them into a box with his name on it and got him to
pull those
he is slightly better this year he seems to understand that all things grow at different times

see told you i could bore you lol

 

Don't fall into the Radish trap, they might be quick growing but not all kids like the pepperyness of them, although I did when I was about 7 or 8. Used to love picking them after school & dipping them in salt, before fighting the dog for tea.

 

I got my son involved as early as possible. before he could even crawl, I'd carry him out to the garden and give him pieces of herbs to smell, and let him study the flowers. At that point it was all about stimulating his senses.

Since he's been able to walk, he's 'helped' me in the garden.

I think there are several rules (or these are the rules I go by at least).

1. Be realistic in your expectations. Kids can't do very much, and they got bored extremely quickly.

2. Let them be distracted. If you have to stop to study a worm or a beetle, so be it.

3. Be excessively excited about everything. If you're excited, most likely the kid will be.

4. Grow easy stuff. Peas and potatoes are winners for the veg. Both extremely easy and all kids like pea pods, and the when you dig the spuds up, there's the excitement of finding new spuds in the mud.

5. Have fun. This is something I wish school teachers (or those that set the curriculum) would realise. To a kid, if its not fun, there's no point doing it. I think us grown ups could learn something from that

 

I have found that some children enjoy collecting composting materials and shoving them in a bin. Especially if they have a mini wheelbarrow to make them feel really important. I guess it works well in reverse, too, i.e. harvesting and spreading compost. Also watering is fun although generally they spill more than they deliver. These two tasks can keep them busy for hours before they get anywhere near a plant.

Quick fixes like Irishman's cuttings also work well.

 

What's one of those then?

 

The Irish dug a lot of our Railway cuttings.

 

Still don't get it, but I'm starting to think it means something like getting the kid to do an 'important' job that actually is just to keep them quiet

 

Yes, but getting under fives to do heavy digging seems a little cruel.

 

My little one has been in the garden with me since he could walk.
We do all sorts of jobs together, as clueless says have fun, it's what gardening is about!
I let my little un use the secateures when I'm using them. Dig veg up and let him take wiggly worms into mummy
. and generally get messy and muddy.
He's growing cress, carrots and peppers at the moment

 

I saw on a garden makeover show they installed a green house for the kids to plant stuff in. The teacher of the kids told the presenter she just asked the kids (off camera) where do strawberries come from (since that's one thing they were going to plant.) One child put his hand up and said "Tesco, miss"
The presenter then said to the camera (Us the viewers) something like "see, this is why you should show children how to grow things, Tesco indeed."

 

Henry is 3 and loves to help me in the garden. waters the plants, weeds, runs the rake over and generally helps with planting as well. i did plant some tomato seeds in pots for him, but as soon as they germinated he put a load more soil on top
needless to say they're not going to produce any toms!

he also planted a lolly stick hoping that it grew another ice lolly, but the dog ate the stick. he was gutted!

we're waiting for the little bits of gravel he put into pots to grow into big stones at the mo, he's watering them every night. i haven't the heart to tell him.