Now that the spring has arrived at last and we all start thinking about tidying our gardens, why not get the children involved?
It might just get them away from sitting in front of some sort of screen which may help to avoid obesity (which is becoming a problem for children as well as adults).
Plus if children are encouraged to grow their own fruit and vegetables, it may help towards them eating more healthily too.
When I was a child minder I took the children out into the garden to play on a warm afternoon and decided to do a spot of weeding while watching them play. One child asked if she could help me so I gave her a trowel, unfortunately she got a little too enthusiastic and started digging up my plants, so be aware of this happening.
Also when I was a child minder we potted some sun flower seeds together and brought them on indoors on a windowsill. When they grew to a reasonable size the children helped me to plant them in the garden. I explained that we were going to measure them regularly, however, the following week when we went out armed with a ruler, all that was left were a few leafless stems as the slugs had feasted on the rest. ( I hadn’t put slug pellets down in fear of the children getting at them).
Be aware that some plants can also be poisonous , keep a close watch on children and ensure that they wash their hands thoroughly when going back inside.
I would like to thank Ann Kenny and Tina Day for the use of their photographs and to Ayra for being so photogenic.
Please share any experiences of children helping in the garden.
Until next time.
Karen
x
What a lovely idea getting children out in the fresh air and at same time getting them involved and interested in gardening . It must have been difficult explaining about the slugs but I feel confident that you did your best to explain this as one of the problems that can happen at times.
It is a good idea to get kids involved in gardening. I wish I know how to garden though. #thesatsesh
I love this post. I’m growing some herbs and veg with my kids this year, and they enjoy digging in the garden too (mainly so they can find worms!). Thanks for linking to #Thesatsesh
Digging for worms is a great activity that my minded children enjoyed doing too
We can’t wait for the snow to melt after this weekend so I can get out into the garden and help mummy! #FamilyFunLinky x
I can’t wait to get out in the garden again soon. My children love to help, it’s great to see them in the fresh air 🙂 #LGRTStumble
Hi, it can be great fun and a fab way to learn for children when helping with the gardening. Let’s hope the snow goes soon so that we can all get into the garden #LGRTStumble
#thesatsesh I have an eco friendly and child friendly alternative to pellets – egg shells 🙂 snails and slugs dislike, the decompose and the sun flower grows = win 🙂
Thanks for joining us once again.
Thanks for sharing this tip, will try it
Not ideal to have your plants dug up but you’re so right, a dose of fresh air is so good and even better when they’re having so much fun and learning! Thanks for linking to #HighlightsofHappy
I’m a keen gardener and always tried to interest my children, but it never really worked. They liked digging in mud more than waiting for something exciting to happen with a plant! Still, now they’re grown up,one appreciates free blackberries from the allotment, and another the pleasure of having plants around the house – so maybe it wasn’t wasted time 🙂 #tweensteensbeyond
Love doing gardening. My little
Loves to help dig up stones. Thankfully not flowers!! Thank you for linking up to the #familyfunlinky
We LOVE gardening and hope it’s rubbing off onto our girls – we got an allotment last year and our eldest daughter was amazing at helping digging, watering, seeding…she even kept a journal filled with lists and pictures of the things we grew. Her sister wasn’t as keen, but we’re hoping a year might have made a difference!
Thanks for linking to #coolmumclub
A great blog post, thanks. (And related to mine on Overcoming Fussy Eating!) I’m at a bit of a gardening crossroads at the moment. We have some fruit trees and garlic chives, but that’s all. We bought a house in Italy a couple of years ago, and the kids and I go there for the whole 6 weeks of the summer holidays. So, I can’t plant anything that won’t definitely be ready to harvest before, or will tolerate utter neglect for 6 weeks. Any suggestions? #thatfridaylinky
Amazing, I visited Italy many years ago, I can imagine that you will be able to grow all kinds of wonderful products in the climate there thanks for sharing
I am terrible at growing, but I really want to start a little veg patch this year. Thanks for sharing your tips! #thesatsesh
Fab post very informative I love gardening with the girls Thank you for linking to #Thatfridaylinky please come back next week
I will, thanks, Nige
Kids love to help out with gardening – really satisfying to grow your own fruit or vegetables. Strawberries are pretty easy for kids to looks after. #blogstravaganza
I love getting out in the garden with my children, and so do they! Thanks for linking up with #Blogstravaganza 🙂
I have very fond memories of pottering around in the garden with my kids. So pleased to see the reminder about hand washing – that’s so important. Thanks so much for sharing with us at #TweensTeensBeyond
Unfortunately living in Finland I have a gardening window of… damn it, it already ended while I was writing this sentence :P.
Anyhow, it’s really wise to involve kids. They have fun and they can learn a lot from the experience! Thanks for linking up with #Blogstravaganza
Gardening is wonderful for all involved. It’s great to learn where the food comes from and grow it before eating it. #TriumphantTales
Returning via #CountryKids
I love gardening with my little boy. He’s especially good at spotting the dog plops before I put my glove on them. thanks for linking up to #ablogginggoodtime last week!
We have an allotment which I thought would be a great family activity – 3 years on I’m the only one who still loves it! They do love picking strawberries in summer though #coolmumclub
Another great outdoorsy child minder, I wish they were all like you! Lovely post to read, knowing you are helping a few children into a life of nature and wildness! #MyGloriousGardens
Thanks very much, I loved it as much, if not more, than the children!
Our children all get involved. They like seed-sowing, pricking our, dead-heading, even weeding! My eldest takes lots of photos and all of them like picking and arranging flowers. And eating! They have all had a raised bed to grow what they like. We’ve had carrots in with stocks and dahlias!
Oh, and den-building. That’s the biggest draw. Being allowed to do slightly dangerous things (climb trees, build things away from adults) has been really important for confidence and independence.
We haven’t got a lot going on in our garden. Neither of us are very green fingered but I would love to get it looking lovely. I know the little man would love to help if ever we did. Thanks for sharing with #TriumphantTales.
LOVE gardening! Can’t wait for the summer to begin so I can get out there and make it look pretty again! x #READYSETLINK
My boys love helping especially my eldest loves soil so much. CX #readysetlink
I absolutely agree about getting children out in the garden. It is a great way to get fresh air and to learn about where our food comes from if you grow your own #mygloriousgarden
My children love gardening & taking care of the plants. It’s a wonderful family activity. Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday. Hope to see you next week at the party.
I can hardly get my youngest to come in from the garden #KidsandKreativity
I really enjoy gardening and am so happy that we’ve now got a little garden of our own again. I try to get Penguin interested and involved too, though so far not with enourmous success… ☺️x
#KidsandKreativity
Hello Karen,
I love gardening so any post that involves the next generation in such a lovely hobby is perfect in my eyes! I bet the children had so much fun too. thanks for joining in with the April #MyGloriousGardens linky. Hope to see you again in May. Look out for my round up post next week. xx
I couldn’t agree more! I’m not only passionate about getting the kids in the garden, but also about teaching them how to grow their own, and how to turn into food we eat! Thanks so much again for linking up to #KidsandKreativity, Kerry x
Gardening with children is lovely. We can all learn together and benefit #KidsandKreativity
Well I wish it was spring again! I think we have raided all bar the last few apples of this season here on the farm #CountryKids
I used to be so good at doing this with son before he started school. Really should try hard now #Countrykids
Gardening is so good for children, even if they dig up your prize dahlias! Glad you didn’t use slug pellets, they’re really bad for hedgehogs and wildlife. Thanks for sharing on #CountryKids
It’s lovely to get kids helping out in the garden. I have certain areas of the garden where the children are allowed to dig. What a shame about the slugs feasting on the sunflowers. We’ve had limited success with these – mostly due to hubby mistaking them for weeds and chopping them down! Still fun to try and grow them each year though. Thanks for sharing with #CountryKids
Great idea to garden together, I love getting out in the fresh air with the little lady!
#adventurecalling
This is something we want to do more of with Rowan. I started with a bug hotel and potatoes this year. Next year, I hope to plant up one of the raised beds with veggies with him. He loves getting involved, but unfortunately, I have no clue, so enlist the help of Anma and Grandpa.
Thanks for sharing with #AdventureCalling
I’m so glad that we now have a bigger garden, this year Finn has loved planting seeds and helping me pick tomatoes. it’s a great way to spend time together outdoors. i can’t wait until the Spring to get out there again. Thank for linking up #AdventureCalling