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Step 1
Start with dirt. Good soil is an important element in any garden, but in a children's garden, the role of dirt is expanded to digging and tunneling. Include room in the garden for unfettered digging activities. An adjacent sandbox fulfills this function as well.
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Step 2
Include a water element. Even a small garden can accommodate a modest fountain or gazing pool. A larger garden might feature a rill, which is a narrow channel filled with water, for children to sail their toy boats or leaves on.
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Step 3
Consider the children's love of movement. In a large garden, lawns or grassy hillsides provide places for games of tumbling and tag. In a small area, one tree can play host to a swing and a small tree house.
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Step 4
Offer the children their own secret refuge. Children find it thrilling to peer out onto the world from their secret hideout tucked behind some ornamental grasses. In the summer, a giant stand of sunflowers turns into the child's miniature forest.
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Step 5
Allow the garden to tap into your children's desire to nurture. Under an adult's guidance, even toddlers can help to care for the growing things in the garden. Start some easy-to-germinate seeds, like beans, and devote one corner of the garden to the children's care of these plants. The satisfying "rip" a weed makes when yanked from its stronghold delights all ages.
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Step 6
Welcome creatures of all sizes into your garden. If your rosebush is under attack from aphids, don't automatically reach for the spray. Purchase some ladybugs and turn the infestation into a learning experience about nature's pest control as the aphids are devoured.
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Step 7
Tap into your children's love for learning with a themed garden. Grow a Peter Rabbit's garden with all the vegetables from the fairytale. Design an alphabet garden with flowers and vegetables from alyssum to zinnias. Plant a dinosaur garden featuring carnivorous plants and plants with gigantic foliage, such as elephant ears.
