Kids love to be of help. No, really. They do! And if we grown-ups can just guide them (or corral them) in the right direction, why, in no time they’ll be full-fledged contributors to the backyard home garden.
Half the battle is understanding how a child thinks. If we can draw our needs in line with their minds, we’re good to go. But what motivates a kid to garden?
The power of possession. As any parent knows, many times the first word out of a young child’s mouth is “mine!” No surprise, here. Like adults, children have a natural desire to control the environment around them. While often this is an impulse that needs curbed, it should be encouraged when it comes to the garden.
Tips for getting kids to help in the garden
“Here sweetheart, this section of the garden is all yours. You get to grow what you like to eat!”
And you can take care of it all by yourself. But save that little tidbit of information for later. You don’t want to ruin their excitement with a list of things they’ll need to do. Those should be introduced in bits and pieces.
“Take your seeds and gently bury them in the soil.” Seed planting is a great lesson in concentration. It will also prompt a bunch of questions about how plants grow, what comes next, and how your child can help.
“Time to feed your plants.” At this point, you’ll hand them a pair of gloves and a scoop of worm poop instructing them to mix it into the soil around their plants. Don’t worry about push back. Every child I’ve ever gardened with is mesmerized by the thought of worm poop.
“Now they’re thirsty.” Hand them a colorful water can and watch them drench their plants—and likely their legs. No worries! Water won’t stain, and your child will be having fun.
“Okay—now grab that weed before it takes over your baby plant’s growing space!” In no time flat, your child will yank that stray green growth out before your very eyes.
Impressive, you muse. But then again, kids enjoy being productive when it’s something they care about. If you nurture their instinct to watch things grow, you’ll be watching them grow and blossom right along with their plants.
Once they become authorities on the subject, stand back—they’ll even help you with your garden section!
Harvest fun with garden crafts
And don’t worry about harvest. That’s an easy sell. Swimming for potatoes is tons of fun, kinda like digging for buried treasure. Twisting cobs is quite simple and if you promise they can keep the husks for weaving baskets, tying knots or crafting corn husk dolls, they’re in!
Even shucking beans. If you let them, your kids will gladly trade the business of shucking if you promise they can keep a handful for themselves. You see, dried beans are the secret ingredient for making maracas and rain sticks! Once in the kitchen, kids can be a big help, too. Peeling carrots is a job my son loves to perform. And my daughter is amazing when it comes to slicing squash for blanching.
How about extending the love outside the vegetable garden? Kids will delight in creating sunflower shacks. These flowers grow taller than most kids and when planted in a nice tight circle, they can become the craziest clubhouse. Or how about a bean fort? All you need are a few trellis sections and/or chicken wire and you’ll have four makeshift walls in no time. Plant beans around the base and in no time, those vines will twist and turn through the walls to create a thick green shelter—excellent camouflage for a game of hide-and-seek.
For the artistic types, creating seed signs to inform visitors what’s planted and where, or a “Kids Only” sign will delight young and old alike. Don’t stop there—butterfly gardens are huge attractions for kids, not to mention corn mazes. Now is also the time to get those pumpkin seeds in the ground. Fall festivities will be here before you know it!
Whatever you do, helping a child to make the garden “their own” will go a long way to increasing their participation. And the best part of all? If a child grows it, they will eat it.
Leave a Reply