How to Garden with a Child

Involve your children in the beautification of your outdoor living space by having them help out with the gardening. Whether you are planting herbs, vegetables or flowers, a child-centered garden will teach valuable skills and provide opportunities for meaningful family interactions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Seed packets, bulbs, vegetable plants or flowers of your choice
• Children's gardening gloves
• Adult gardening gloves
• Gardening trowels
• Watering can

How to Garden with a Child

1. Identify a dedicated gardening space. If available, allow your child to have a space of her own. If she has ownership of the space, she will be more likely to continue to cultivate what she planted. Enclose the space with an appropriate border such as small pebbles or stones. Involve your child in deciding how the space will be used and what kind of garden she'd like to plant. Draw upon her experiences for this step--a favorite place to visit or even a favorite story.

2. Plant your garden. Demonstrate for your child how to properly use the garden trowel. Teach her to dig deeply enough to cover the root of what you've chosen to plant, and then replace topsoil so that the plant is snugly in the soil. Follow with a healthy dose of water using your watering can. After demonstrating this once, allow your child to dig, plant water on her own. Continue to supervise, but allow your child the freedom to plant.

3. Instruct your child how to properly tend the garden after you have finished planting. Show her how to deadhead--or remove old blooms from flowering plants. Many children enjoy monitoring vegetables for signs of ripeness, and take pleasure and satisfaction out of picking vegetables that are ripe--especially if they took part in planting them. Most importantly, set aside a time during the day when you can water with your child; she can do it herself once she has had enough supervision. Early morning is a good time to water plants.

4. Add accessories. As your child is tending and caring for the garden, encourage adding flair to the space. Small ceramic animals, scarecrows or birdhouses make great choices and can be family projects in and of themselves.

5. Expand your gardening to include themes. For instance, herb gardens can lend themselves well to tea parties. A friendship garden can be created by using flowers with names of friends or loved ones. Another simple idea is to plant one type of flower such as roses or day lilies.

Tips & Warnings

• Always provide adult supervision if your child is using tools to dig, cut or trim.

Resources

• Ideas and resources for youth gardens and how beneficial they are to young children.