Growing plants from seeds with young children

This is a fun activity that takes concentration and teaches patience as we wait for the seeds to arrive up out of the earth. While we wait we learn about the life cycle of a plant: what does the plant need to grow and thrive?

1. Planting in the Garden: Dig the earth where you will plant the seeds into furrows or individual seed holes.
Planting in Pots: turn the earth in the pot and dig a hole.
2. Each child holds a few seeds in their hand and is shown where the seed should go and they put it in. (see picture above)
3. When all the seeds are planted work together to push the soil back over the seeds.

"Sam, at age 4, is already pretty good at handling the smaller seeds (carrots, onions, etc.) but Avery is just on her first planting year to be involved so she just helped with the bigger bean seeds.
Beans are, in my opinion, some of the best plants to grow with young kids. The seeds are big and easy to handle. The seeds sprout fairly quickly so that they don't have to be patient for too long. The beans are easy to pick off and a great immediate snack in the yard. My girls both loved helping to pick the beans last year and I know this year they will get just as into the process." Abbie at Greening Sam and Avery

Growing from Seeds PDF from Yates and Junior Landcare

Looking for a helpful book about gardening with children?


Gardening with Children (BBG Guides for a Greener Planet) from Amazon

Create a fragrant garden

This week we have been digging in the dirt and making our own beautiful fragrant garden.
This is a wonderful combination of messy play and creating something lasting and beautiful that can be appreciated by all.
First we started with an outing to the plant nursery. We rang ahead of time to ask which was their quietest day. We have a lovely local shady nursery with a interesting winding path and large red fish in a pond. We purchased:

• lemon verbena
• geraniums: lemon, rose, lime, peppermint
• mints: spearmint, peppermint
• bergamont
• pennyroyal
• rosemary
• lavender

 Most of these plants were in the herb section.
We had great fun digging and transferring the plants and smelling the leaves of the geranium plants. Scented geraniums are grown mainly for their foliage because of the wonderful scents they have when their leaves are rubbed.  They work well in containers and small spaces, and can be grown successfully either indoors or out.
The best fun we had though, and ongoing, was watering the plants when they were all happily planted in their beds.

“It was such a pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, to feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season.”
― Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden

RESOURCES: Herb Gardening Guide from Garden.org includes guides on growing, basil, parsley, sage, dill, mint, chives, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary and frech tarragon.

Gardening with Children

Gardening with Children (BBG Guides for a Greener Planet)

The gorgeous illustrations on every page of this book make learning about nature simple and fun. While children do fun indoor and outdoor plant and garden activities, they will glean important lessons about natural cycles and processes. Bravo to Brooklyn Botanic Garden for publishing this great guide!  Nico

Brooklyn Botanic Garden—home of the oldest continuously operating children’s garden in North America— has created this handbook that helps parents, teachers, and community gardeners introduce kids to the pleasures of gardening. In addition to growing common plants from seed, children will become more aware of nature’s cycles and earth's ecology, and enjoy a variety of fun projects.

Linked up at I Must Confess

 

Grow some tomatoes

Kids love to dig in the dirt so you can involve them in planting veges and herbs from an early age. Cherry tomatoes are a good plant to start with as they are quick growing, visible and can be eaten straight from the bush. If you don't have a large garden they can be grown in a pot on the verandah.
All tomatoes are great growing, in Australia, right now as they are so expensive in the shops.
Kids can help prepare the soil, dig small holes, plant the seedlings or seeds, and water the garden. Later they can mulch around the plants.*  It's the waiting that's the hard part, but we all need to learn patience, right?
It's also a great way to get them interested in eating salads and learning what their favourite tomato sauce is made from.
When you visit to see how your tomato plants are growing don't forget to pinch off the suckers that grow inbetween the two branches. They don’t make any fruit and just take energy away from the rest of the plant.
* Let the soil warm up before you mulch to keep the warmth in as tomatoes thrive in a warm environment.
Don't forget to wash hands well with soap and water after handling potting mix, soil or compost.

MORE IDEAS: Fact Sheet about growing tomatoes: Pete's Patch at Gardening Australia


PHOTO THANKS TO CANADIAN GARDENING

Child safe plants

We all want the garden to be a wonderful experience for children.
Here are resources for safe and successful gardens with children.

PLANTS IN YOUR PLAY AREA
Kidsafe 'grow me safely' plants to avoid list when designing and planting in your child friendly garden.

Poisonous plants list, symptoms of poisoning and what to do if someone is poisoned from kids health: the Children's Hospital at Westmead.

Dangerous plants from raising children network

GARDENING WITH CHILDREN
See the top 20 child approved plants at Greening Sam and Avery