Planting a garden this year? Here are some easy tips to make gardening with kids easy and fun!
Gardening with preschoolers, especially in group daycare or preschool settings, can sometimes be a challenge but don’t let that stop you from doing it! There are simple ways for everyone to grow a successful garden, even if you aren’t a master gardener. Gardens provide amazing learning opportunities for kids. They learn about plants, bugs, patience and so much more, all from one simple garden.
Don’t forget to download our free garden observation journal below!
Gardening with Kids +Free Plant Observation Journal
I’m not the best gardener but I try every year with my daycare kids. We have always used these Miracle-Gro Gro-ables that I usually find at Walmart/Target because they make it so easy. But this year I can’t find them so we are using seeds and this set of seed starters. They are super easy, we just add the seeds and water. That’s it! I keep them in egg cartons so they don’t get water all over but you can also buy seed started that come with a tray. Once they have expanded a bit we transfer them to pots. It’s super easy!
My kids love it when we start our spring garden. It doesn’t have to be overcomplicated or perfect, children get so much joy from growing a little garden like this. There is so much learning to be had too.
My girls took over the second I handed them the seeds. They didn’t need much instruction or help. They just dig a small hole and then push the seed pods into some loose potting mix. See, gardening with kids is super easy.
We planted our herbs first. The kids decided that the herbs should all grow near each other so they put them in one pot together. They also wanted them near the play area so they could smell them as they grew. It’s a good idea to plant a variety of plants so that kids can examine how different plants grow and flower.
Some of our seeds needed to start inside before being moved out to the garden beds so we simply took off the top of the seed pod and placed it in a cup, making sure it got lots of sun and water. In a few days, we’ll transfer them into our outdoor garden beds.
To make our gardening experience even more interactive I created simple garden observation journals (download below) for the kids to use. It allows my preschoolers to explore plant life and document the process of growing plants. There is so much to learn when gardening with kids, having a journal is so helpful!
This is another one of those easy gardening ideas that helps expand the learning kids can do in the garden. It opens conversations about the life cycle of plants and what happens in a garden. The free printable has pages for what plants need to grow, what we planted, and daily (or weekly) observations.
In 1-2 weeks the seed will sprout and the kids can update their garden observation journals with new observations about the garden. Download our Free Garden Observation Journal and get started today! Track plant growth, bugs found, weeds, garden maintenance, and much more! It’s a great way to talk about gardening with kids!
Tips for easy gardening with kids:
- Assign everyone their own space. We used craft sticks as markers for each child’s area.
- Don’t worry about how it looks. You don’t need to worry about making sure everything is in perfectly spaced rows, evenly divided, just focus on the process. That’s all the kids care about.
- Give them real tools. You don’t need a bunch of gardening tools either, kids usually prefer to use their hands.
- Pick relatively ‘easy-to-grow’ crops (cherry tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, herbs…) and be aware of your area’s growing season
- Start from seeds. Kids learn more about the process if you engage them from the beginning. Using starter plants is much easier but kids miss an important part of the plant life cycle.
- Maintain the garden together. Gardening doesn’t end with the seeds are planted. Assign gardening jobs, like watering or weeding, to children each day or week.
- Observe garden creatures! Bugs, worms, and butterflies! Talk with kids about what bugs do for the garden or what critters have arrived since planting? We record bugs in our observation journals (download link above).
- Learn about the foods you planted together. How long do they grow for? What are the signs a fruit or vegetable is ready to be picked? What can you make with them?
- Harvest & eat! Let kids harvest their area themselves and incorporate them in the preparation of the food. Kids learn more (and are more likely to try new foods) if they are part of the whole process.
Share your tips on growing plants with children! What do you to to make gardening fun for kids?
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