In Best Blog for Kids Who Hate to Read, my goal is to connect kids with books. The best way to do this is to provide them with books about things they love (cars, horses, fairies…). Another way is to give kids experiences that create new loves.
Fostering kids’ interest in gardening is a great idea. It gets them outside and gives them experiences in watching their world grow. Growth is exciting!
Monday’s post, Grow Garden Grow, had lots of books about gardening. Although books are wonderful, gardening is so much more than books. Gardening is about doing, and waiting, and tending, and watching, and reaping the benefits of all your doing, waiting, tending and watching.
To get you started, I’ve listed a few ideas. These are followed by several websites for even more information. Let’s get growing!
The following tips came from Gardening with Kids from Organic Gardening. This site starts with a wonderful statement:
Turn digging in the dirt into a lifetime of love and respect
for nature with your children.
The following tips are for getting you started. Be sure to check the Organic Gardening site for more ideas. It also has recommendations for easy-to-grow plants.
- Choose a site with as much sun as possible.
- Do not plan too large a garden.
- Keep the garden plan simple.
- Choose only a few varieties of plants to begin.
- Choose plants and seeds that are appropriate for your site.
- Choose good-quality tools that fit your young gardener’s hands.
- Wait until the soil is moist before you try weeding. Then pull each weed gently, from its base, to remove the whole root.
- Another option for those with limited space is to plant in containers.
Gardening with Children from Earth Easy
Garden Mosaics from the American Community Gardening Association
Rebel Tomato from the American Community Gardening Association
Ten Tips on Gardening with Kids from the American Community Gardening Association
Gardening with Kids from Gardening with Kids
Gardening with Children from the BBC
Stimulating Imagination in the Garden from Kids Gardening
My First Garden from the University of Illinois
Beginning Home Gardening Guide from Angie’s List (Thanks to Bella in Ms. Copeland’s class for this new site!)
I do hope you will consider some sort of garden with your kids. Please share your experiences in the Comments Box!