by Susan Hibberd

Created on: November 28, 2009

Kids love to be outside and to play in the garden, so it should be only a short step to getting them involved in the gardening. Well, we all know it's not as simple as that! Kids shy away from anything they consider to be work, so you need to box clever. Here are a few ideas to get the kids out and working.

Start Early

Start your kids early in the garden. Let them come out a watch you dig, plant, sow and harvest. Let them pick the flowers and fruits and keep talking about what you are doing and why.

Even if you think your kids aren't listening, or are too young, you'd be surprised at what goes into their heads. Chatter away, and it will all be stored in there for a later date.

Start Indoors

Start small, by growing mustard and cress on tissue paper or in used egg-shells. Keep herbs on the kitchen window sill that the kids can help you pick for pizzas etc. Sprout seeds in a damp jam jar to add to salads.

You can also start seeds and bulbs off indoors by growing them in water. Buy a hyacinth jar that allows you to rest the hyacinth over the water at exactly the right place so that you can see the roots grow.

In the summer, start off runner beans in a jam jar filled with kitchen roll so that your kids can see the shoots and roots developing.

Get the Grandparents Involved

Kids sometimes have an aversion to doing anything their parents do. They like to strike out on their own, and show individuality.

Get your parents or in-laws to come along and help with the garden, or send the kids to their house. Pretty soon you'll be hearing Can we plant beans like Grandpa does? and No, Nanny does it like this!

Their Own Space

Give the kids their own space in the garden to grow vegetables and flowers. Choose really fast-growing seeds for their first attempts so that they get instant gratifications. Sneak out in between gardening sessions if your child is very young, and give a helping hand to their patch to keep it looking nice.

Kids Love to Eat

However keen your kids get on gardening, they will still love eating more than growing things. Take them with your when you go out to harvest fruit and vegetables, and take them to Pick Your Own farms.

Ask them if you think you should plant more of any particular plant, and then get them to help you do it. Take photos to remind them how it was done even two months is a long time in the life of a child.

Buy Tools

Buy a child his or her own set of tools to make him feel special. You can get child-sized tools and also tools in different colors. Buy each kid in your family his/her own colored fork and trowel so they can keep it clean and use it in their own garden.

Start a Diary

Start a scrapbook diary of your year in the garden. Add in seed packets, photos and pressed leaves. Get the kids to help write up what they did and to glue in the things you have collected.

All these ideas are ways that you can help your kids get involved in gardening. The best way is to let them see you enjoying yourself. Take them with you if you have an allotment away from the home, allow them to ride on the tractor if you are a farmer, and get them digging in the soil even if you only have a small patch.

Show a child how to be a gardener and you are showing him the way to a healthy happy life later on. Keep trying!

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