Help for Involving Children in the Garden

Spring is fast approaching. This year you want to do things differently. You want the kids happily involved with the garden. Last year you yelled at them for riding their bikes through the flower beds. You asked them to "please leave some soil" in the vegetable garden, not use it all for mud pies and clothing adornment. You begged them not to help weed as they pulled up seedling after seedling and displayed them proudly. You gave up in mid-June (or July) and let the few surviving plants fend for themselves as it was not worth the effort anymore. The garden had become painful for you. It was not the pleasurable family-bonding time you had hoped for. It was a patch of fried weeds matted down by little feet and bicycle tires.

This year you want to involve the kids with the garden in a fun and satisfying way. You also want to get the necessary things done in your limited time available. You want this to be enjoyable family-time, not parent torture. How do you do it? How does a parent (or two) turn chaos into a wonderful garden without ripping hair out and yelling at their kids? What's the secret?

Parents can help make family gardening an enjoyable activity. The main thing to keep in mind is to have appropriate expectations for the children. Children have limits in areas of attention span, interest levels, ability to understand what the garden is all about, etc. Depending on their ages, ability, and exposure to plants and gardening, it can be hard for a small child to understand that planting this row of seeds is really any different than burying pebbles in a row. If they have no understanding that something is going to happen with those seeds, they are meaningless and certainly shouldn't take time away from playing (or riding bike through the freshly planted bed).

To help a child understand what seeds are, you might consider sprouting some seeds indoors first. Some bean seeds wrapped in wet paper towels and sprouted in a jar show how the seeds sprout and become plants. This activity may help a child understand that the seeds planted in the garden bed will also grow and the child's participation helps them take more of an interest in the garden. After a few days, dig up a few of the seeds and show how the seeds are sprouting and developing roots. Show the sprout trying to reach the surface of the soil so the baby leaves can receive sunlight and turn green, etc. This helps develop an interest in plant life.