6 Helpful Tips for Kids to Excel in Gardening

Traditional learning at schools is essential, but it does not mean that it is the only learning that children should experience. Learning life skills and lessons is just as important. Playing outdoors is one way to get children off the mobiles and television, but there is so much more that children can learn from being outside.

This is where gardening comes in. Gardening with children is a great way to learn about and respect nature, and to hone motor skills and patience in a fun way. The benefits of gardening for children are endless, but is there a way to ensure that kids have the best success when gardening? We provide 6 helpful tips you can help them implement. Let's dive in.

1. Start small

Gardening as a beginner can seem complicated or daunting, especially if you have a large garden. However, this does not mean that you have to start big! This may overwhelm children and cause them to give up on learning. So, start them off with just a single simple plant or children’s growing kit that they can look after themselves. They can slowly learn about what the plant needs to grow and gradually learn the basics of growing from seed. Once they get used to this, you can introduce them to more adventurous children’s plants, or their own small bed or patch, allowing them to excel.

2. Grow edible plants for yummy dishes

Another great way to get children interested in gardening is to grow edible plants that they can eat. With older children helping them to cook with the herbs or vegetables that they’ve grown themselves can give them a real sense of achievement. For example, incorporating tomatoes, they have grown into a pizza or strawberries into ice cream. This will keep kids constantly motivated to grow their own food, but also enhance their understanding and appreciation of where their food comes from. Plus, home-grown vegetables taste amazing!

Check out our children’s fruit and vegetable growing kits.

3. Choose plants that they find interesting

Parents and teachers often select easy-to-grow plants like sunflowers or nasturtiums, to almost guarantee growing success. While this approach is perfect for beginners, some children may have grown these before and be ‘bored’ growing the same old thing. For avid growers, there are a huge range of interesting plants that are easy to grow and perfect for children, but are ‘outside the box’. Growing interesting or different plants will help capture and maintain their interest, as well as educate them about the amazing world of plants!

We have developed our own Grow Something Different range, including several amazing and adventurous plants, which are all easy to grow.

4. Provide children’s gardening tools

Every gardener has their own tools, and it is vital to ease and success. This is no different for children! Many people make the mistake of providing children with gardening tools that are sized for adults and too big. Therefore, providing them with their own set of children’s gardening gloves that fit their hands, or a brightly coloured children’s toolset is vital to their success and enthusiasm.  

5. Read nature books

Reading children's nature books or books about gardening is a great way to introduce new concepts to children. Reading such books when the weather is bad or it’s dark outside can also keep them interested and give them a way of learning about gardening when they’re inside.
Check out our range of gardening and nature books for children of all ages, including those you can plant!

6. Learn about wildlife

Gardening comes hand in hand with wildlife, and children should be encouraged to appreciate wildlife in all its forms. Children are naturally curious, and by planting for wildlife and pollinators, you can cultivate that curiosity by encouraging wildlife into your garden. Get the bug spotting book out, or a pair of children’s binoculars to have a look at the birds. By doing this, you can hone identification skills and inspire passion in saving our much declining British wildlife.  

Do you have any tips or tricks about encouraging children to get into the garden? We’d love to hear them! Give us an email at hello@gardeningforkids.co.uk