A Neat Experiment

Here is a fun experiment to teach kids about how water and nutrients travel to different parts of a plant. Place a celery stalk in water. Then, place a few drops of food coloring into the water. Within minutes you will see the color begin to move up the plant stalk. I use red coloring as it provides a good contrast to the green of the celery.

Bird Feeders

If the children are bored and you are trying to find a cure, try these handy bird feeders. Gather some nice sized pine cones. Get a jar of creamy peanut butter and bird seed. Have the children liberally coat the cones with the peanut butter, the roll in the bird seed. The finer the seed, the easier to get an even coat. Poke a hole in the top of the cone and thread with string. Have them hang their feeders in the branches of your trees. Pour some lemonade and watch the show.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers and children are a match made in heaven. Children enjoy looking at these large, bright flowers. In addition, they can actually eat sunfolower seeds in the fall. Plant both short and tall varieties for more interest.

Mommy, When Will They Grow?

There is a great way to teach your children about nature. Talk to them about days and dates and show them on the calendar how long it should take for their seeds to germinate. Mark that day off on their very own calendar and remind them to cross off the days until then. Put special marks on the calendar to show when the plants need water. Mark the expected harvest dates, too.

Ideas and Lessons - Family Gardening

Take your children along when you visit gardening centers where they can help you choose seeds or plants that are easy and quick to grow like, radishes, lettuce, and squash.

Pumpkin Fun

After your pumpkins have formed fruit, there are some fun things to do while waiting for them to ripen. While the fruits are small, carve your childs name into the pumpkin. As the fruit grows the name will too. At harvest your childs´ name will be big enough for all to see! Some major garden centers carry scary face molds of plastic. You slip these on the young fruit, and it molds the face right into the pumpkin!

Gardening for Toddlers

To get your toddlers interested in gardening, try a theme garden. Make an Elmo´s Corner or Cookie Monster's Cabbage Patch. Decorate with pictures of your toddlers' favorite characters pasted on pieces of wood mounted on stakes. Your toddlers will love it! Plant cherry tomatoes and baby squash. These vegetables are just the right size for tiny hands!

September Garden

September is a great time of year for your children to plant some much needed fall color. Mums, decorative cabbage and kale are all fun, child safe plants for them to grow.

Baby Carrots

Children love to grow vegetables. And carrots with their silky, feathery tops are high on their list. For something different, try the new round variety of carrot. You can give your children a shallow container to plant their seeds in since they don´t require the depth of regular carrots.

Quality Time

Gardening and yard work can turn into great quality time for the entire family. Young ones love to help and are quite capable of many tasks, when shown how to do something. They are eager to learn and will carry the valuable lessons that you teach into the future generations. You will become a legend! Don´t underestimate your kids, they may know more than you think.

Family Gardening

Gardening can be more fun if you garden with your children. Plan your vegetable garden in advance and teach them the importance of preparation. Scan the internet with your children, looking at kids garden projects together. Visit to the library and bookstores together in the winter months

Digging in the Dirt

Children love to garden alongside their family members. If you don't have special child size tools, try giving your children old spoons to dig with. They are lightweight and fit well in small hands.

Grow Bags

To get your child really enthusiastic about gardening, try grow bags. These wonderful products are easy to use, and produce amazing results. Help your children select what they want to grow. Let them fill the bag with soil and add plants. Remind them to keep the bag watered and be sure to hang it on a sunny porch.

Oleander and Children

Oleander is a bush to be avoided in any garden where children or small pets play. The leaves contain a potentially fatal poison. A few other plants to avoid include foxgloves, hellebores and azaleas. Before planting any plants in the garden, you may want to check with your local poison control center to see if they are safe.

Fat Seeds for Small Hands

The larger seeds, such as beans, peas, corn, squash, sunflowers and marigolds are easier for children to handle and plant than tiny seeds. The germination rates are high enough to be pleasing to children, too.

Soft Leaves for Small Hands

Children love to explore their world with all of their senses, so soft leaved plants are an important addition to a child friendly garden. Try echeverria, lambs ears and hens and chicks for soft, easy care plants any child is sure to enjoy.

Ideas and Lessons - Family Gardening

Don`t forget to buy tools and gloves that are smaller and easy to handle for your child. Use natural pest control or be sure to lock up pesticides to protect your child.

Water Babies

Children and water go together like strawberries and cream. Whether the job requires a watering can, the hose or just letting them turn on the faucet, they will enjoy watering chores. Show them how once, then stand back to avoid the spray. They'll probably get a bit wet, but it´s only water.

Pumpkin Snowman

For a different scarecrow, try stacking 3 pumpkins, largest on the bottom. You can secure them with a dowel or glue. Add an old straw hat, jackets and floppy shoes to complete the picture. Let your children plan their designs on paper first, it´ll be much easier to make a great scarecrow.

Staking Young Plants

To gently help the struggling pole bean or tomato plant grow upright, loosely tie the stem to a bamboo pole with bright colorful scraps of fabric. Your child's harvest may not be the biggest, but those bright snips of color will brighten the gloomiest day. For more color, use non-toxic paint to paint the stakes with bright primary colors.

Gardening for the Special Child

Even a disabled child can benefit from gardening. For the bed bound child, a terrarium or dish garden can provide visual stimulation. Wheelchair bound children can have small windowboxes, planters and raised beds to work with. Studies show that gardening is very beneficial to the special needs child.

Family Gardening

Gardening teaches children patience, work ethics, responsibility and the rewards of all these qualities.

The Four Seasons

Use the four seasons to teach your child about life and gardening. Explain that in the fall, plants get ready to sleep for the winter. Tell them that in the winter, while the plants are sleeping, they are growing stronger and storing energy for the spring. In the spring, show them the newly wakened plants and explain, that, just like them, they are going to grow quickly and be full of energy and life. They´ll learn to relate these things to life in general.