There’s nothing really like the joy of gardening, and it’s a wonderful way for children to connect to nature, the pride of growing their own plants, flowers and food and, of course, the amazing health benefits that come along with it.
Children are natural gardeners; they like to learn and understand by doing hands on work, and love to play in the soil. Here are a few tips on how to plant a love of nature and get children into the garden.
1) Make flower crowns together
Use fresh flowers and greenery from your garden to make flower crowns.
How to make a flower crown:
1. Start by choosing your flowers. A single variety used in mass is always more effective.
2. You’ll need to help children with the tools needed for the job as these include secateurs, florists wire and rope for the base.
3. Create small posies by tying bunches of blooms together with the wire.
4. Attach the posies to the rope – by facing stems in the same direction and overlapping as you go along.
5. Leave the ends of the rope clear to allow for an easily adjustable crown size.
2) Rock and stone Painting
These rocks and stones create a playful environment with the use bright colours and handwritten letterings. The brighter and more personalized they are, the lovelier they will be.
3) Make a bird feeder
Making and hanging homemade bird feeders for your backyard is a fun way for you and your children to get to know which birds are native to your area and also to keep a log of the diverse birds that visit the feeder, and an excellent way to help out your feathered friends when their food sources are limited.
4) Go on a Bug Hunt
Set your children off to see how many different insects they can find in the garden. Collect them in a container so that you and the children can see them better with a magnifying glass. Return them to the wild when you have finished!
5) Let you children camp in your garden
If you have a garden or a backyard, let your kids enjoy the night camping right outside the house. This will give them a sense of what it’s like to enjoy your garden and to appreciate it.
6) Fairy Gardens
Allow your children to create miniature fairy gardens filled with magic. Tiny houses, chairs, lawns and ponds – fairy worlds which your children can create in your garden. A corner of a flower bed, under a tree, in a pot on the patio; they are so small they’ll fit in any space.
7) Painted Pots
Let your child colour the pots as this will help the garden look bright and inviting. Decorating pots may assist in boosting your children’s interest in art and design.
8) Flourishing Butternut Squash
Get your children to pick their favourite flowers from your garden to craft exclusive vases by cutting off the tops of butternut squash and filling them with yours and your children’s favourite, bold-coloured flowers to display on your outside table. They might be slightly lopsided but each vase will be one-of-a-kind.
9) Plant swap
Host a plant club for your children and their friends and ask them to bring rare and interesting plants to swap with each other.
10) Dinner in the garden
Enjoy dinner outside in the garden with each dish featuring a home-grown ingredient, and get your children to join in the making of the dinner.
11) Create a masterpiece
As painting is usually a messy activity, so where better to do it than the garden? Let your children look around and get motivation from the garden and use watercolours to capture spring flowers.
12) Press flowers
Many children like to spend their time creating crafts and homemade gifts. To add to their enthusiasm, you can experiment by adding pressed flowers to their crafts. Gluing pressed flowers on a homemade card can add some personality.