As I’ve mentioned in the previous article about “Benefits of gardening in early childhood”, no matter your garden is big or small, your preparation is the key that makes a gardening afternoon. So, let me give you some interesting ideas:
Herb Heaven
In my “Easy Plants to Grow Outside” instruction, herbs are the easiest to grow and also give huge benefits to your daily meal. And for toddlers, this seems to be suitable for their capability and it on the other hand is a good start for parents to teach their kids about gardening.
You can find plenty of herb seeds in any supermarkets with a few dollars – really affordable.
My suggestions are mint, parsley, and chives. Your kids will surely enjoy them immediately as well as know more about their potential benefits to human’s health.
Challenge Yourself With A Veggie Garden
If your children are bigger, why not leverage your target by trying planting a small garden of vegetable in your backyard?
This might sound ambitious since it takes more time and effort to set up this kind of garden, however, the result afterward is really worthy. Kids will get to reap real rewards for their capabilities and feel more responsibility to what they have plant.
And, one surprising thing is that they will love eating veggies more than ever.
You should start by considering the time of year: Do you intend to plant something seasonal or all-year-round? I highly recommend choosing a good gardening guide for some help.
There’s a fact that lots of vegetables can be grown in planters or pots, which doesn’t take much space at all. They are zucchinis, cherry tomatoes, and capsicums that also give pretty quick results.
Once your kids are trained to get patience, try other time-taking veggies, such as pumpkin and strawberries.
Seeds And Sprouts
No toddlers can resist the cuteness of sprouts and bulbs. With this gardening activity, parents you even don’t need to do anything. Just give them some empty egg cartons as a seed tray and teach them how to fill compost in there and add seed.
Regular watering should be noted, you can guide them with ease.
I love this activity the most because there’s no need of backyard. You and your kids can try it right indoors. Start with grass seed or bean seeds isn’t a bad idea.
Since toddlers are prone to losing interest in everything, I bet this quick-result-giving game will retain their joyfulness.
Homemade Planters
Why buy planters when you can DIY some from plastic bottles? It’d be even better if you organize a mini “recycle day” at home with some invited participants who are also your kids. I’m sure they will love it!
While saving the surrounding environment, you can teach your kids about DIY everything around the house, make them re-useful and even look good.
Note that for containers, you should choose those with label “PP” and “5” because they are the safest for gardening. While other kinds of plastic, like number “3”, “6”, or “7” which are easy to poison the compost and plants, PP containers don’t.
Aside from plastic bottles or containers, old Lego or rain boots can be reused as a mini garden as well. An old truck toy can also be converted into a mobile garden while newspapers are another potential material to make planters.
Decorate Gardening Ornaments
After DIY some planters, it’s time to decorate them a little bit, which is the best part for toddlers. They always love panting things with their own creativity and aesthetics. So, why not?
You can join them to paint those homemade planters or decorating gardening rocks as funny markers for your garden.
Conclusion
There are really a lot of interesting gardening activities for toddlers to make them feel more joyful when going outdoor with you. By this creative organizing, it’s easier to pull them away from laptop/smartphone/ tablet screen while allow kids to learn many wonderful things around them.
I hope those suggested activities are easy enough for you to set up and enjoy with your kids. Hope them love it, too!
Thanks for reading!
