With it being National Garden Month, we thought it would be fun to share some ways that you can make gardening a family affair! Of course, when all of the adults are hard at work in the garden, even the youngest kids want to help as well. It’s easy to get nervous about their little feet stomping on tender plants or their little hands pulling something that wasn’t a weed, but we’ve found that they have a great time when we involve them and give them specific “jobs.”
Here are some ideas of how the kids can be involved:
Planning Partners – Involve the kids in the planning stages of the garden so they feel they contributed to those decisions.
Accessorize – Let them pick out their own pair of gardening gloves and a kid-size shovel to get them excited about helping out.
Create Signage – Older kids can create signs for the garden.
Weed Collector – As the adults pull the weeds, give the little ones a bucket and have them go around and collect them. If you have a compost pile, they can empty the bucket onto the pile.
Master Digger – They can stay close by your side and dig up weeds that you point out with their kid-sized shovels.
Watering Fun – Let the kids help out with either the watering can or the hose to make sure everything is properly hydrated.
Having the younger kids in the garden can create a bit more work, but it’s worth it to see the excitement they have when they feel a part of it, as well as when they see the ‘fruits’ of their labor!
What kinds of things do you let your children assist you with in your household?
