Growing with Children

Little Hands in the Garden

There’s something truly beautiful and magical about seeing children discover the garden. The way they look at worms wriggling through the soil. The joy they feel pulling up a radish. The squeal of excitement when they find a ripe strawberry hiding under its leaves.

Gardening with little ones isn’t just about teaching them to grow food or flowers — it’s about planting the seeds of curiosity, patience, and connection. It’s about sharing the magic of the natural world, one muddy handful at a time.

And it’s okay if it’s chaotic, imperfect, and full of dirt. That’s kind of the point.

Simple Ideas for gardening with Kids

Gardens are the perfect place for children to explore using all their senses - no screens, no rules, just discovery.

  • Touch: Let them dig, squish mud, and pat down the soil with their hands

  • Sight: Bright flowers, buzzing bees, tiny seedlings popping up — all so fascinating

  • Smell: Encourage them to smell herbs like basil, mint, and lavender

  • Taste: A sun-warmed cherry tomato or a few peas straight from the pod? Pure joy

  • Hearing: Wind in the leaves, birds singing, bees humming. Nature has its own soundtrack

You don’t need a “kids’ garden” section (although if you do have space, I’m sure they’d love their own little corner or even just a container) - just involve them in the real thing and let them lead a little. Children are natural gardeners, they just don’t know it yet. 

Here are a few things that work really well when little ones are involved. Grow fast and fun flowers or plants.

Kids love quick results. Go for seeds that germinate quickly and plants that grow visibly day by day. These are maybe the most popular ones:

Sunflowers - Peas - Radishes - Pumpkins - Nasturtiums - Strawberries

Give kids their own patch if you do have space.

  • Even a tiny corner of the garden or a pot they can call their own to give them a sense of ownership and responsibility. Let them decide what to grow - even if it’s just a mix of wildflowers and weeds

  • Let them water. Yes, it will be messy. Yes, they will probably flood everything. But it’s their favourite job and it builds routine and care and self responsibility

  • Use child-sized tools

  • Hands work just fine! But a little trowel or watering can they can manage helps them feel like part of the team

  • Encourage observation, not just results

  • Talk about how seeds sprout, what worms do, why bees visit flowers. Let them ask questions and answer what you can or think out loud with them

Be prepared that plants will get trampled on.

But alongside the chaos, you’ll also get these golden little moments - a tiny hand offering you a flower, a proud grin as they hold up their first carrot, a spontaneous hug among the tomato vines or sunflowers.

Gardening with children is so much more. It’s real life education and not about growing the perfect vegetables or flowers. It’s much more about growing memories. It’s about showing them that food doesn’t just come from a shop, and the earlier the learn, the better. Children are also more likely to eat the vegetables they grow and pick themselves. But even more important is that they will learn to care much more for our beautiful planet as they grow up and in the future. So it really is an all round win win situation.

Here’s a lovely little project to try together

Grow a Pizza Garden

Pick a few pizza themed plants like basil, cherry tomatoes, oregano, maybe even a sweet pepper, and plant them in a pot or small patch. Talk about how each ingredient ends up on the pizza. You can even make one together with your harvest.

Make a Sunflower Den

Plant a circle of sunflowers with a “door” left open. As they grow, it becomes a magical hideaway. You could even string bunting or hang shells from the stalks.

Grow a Bean Den

Plant a circle of runner beans by putting in the sticks like a den. You can decide on the size depending on how much space to give up for this. So much fun when you see it grow and children totally love sitting in it. It will be a major achievement for them no matter the age really. I’m pretty sure parents love it just as much.

Sunflower Tent

Bean Tent

Children remember the feeling of things more than the details. They might forget the name of the flower they planted - but they’ll always remember the joy of doing it with you.

So let it be messy. Let it be slow. Let it be joyful. Your garden, after all, isn’t just growing plants — it’s growing people, often adventures and memories.

And what a beautiful thing that is.

HAPPY GROWING AND PLANTING WITH YOUR CHILD(REN)

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Gardening for Everyone