Now the nights are getting warmer and frost free it’s a good time to start doing some planting in the garden. Kids love learning about seeds, plants and generally getting their hands dirty in the garden. Here are some ideas for things you can do this half term to keep the kids busy and get them interested in growing plants:
1. If you haven’t already done this trying growing a sun flower from seed. You just need a little pot with some moist compost and a sun flower seed. Put the seed in the compost about 10mm deep. Then put the pot somewhere it will be warm, keep it moist and don’t let it dry out. You should see the see start to shoot after 7 to 10 days. Once the plant is about 50mm to 100mm tall plant it out in the garden in a sunny spot.
2. Talk to your children about all the different types of tomatoes. My children like the little cheery tomatoes. Then you can buy a simple grow bag and two or three different varieties. They can then decide which ones they like best and track which plants give the best crop.
3. Prepare a small bed in the garden and plant some courgette plants. Getting the kids involved with growing these from small plants that they help pick out at the garden centre through to picking them and cooking them can help encourage them to eat some green food!
I hope you find these children gardening tips helpful this half term. They really don’t need much garden space. I’ve seen all of these done successfully in containers over the years. Let me know how you get on or if you have any similar tips.