You might think gardening is plenty of fun, and your kids might be showing interest, but their short attention spans and need for constant action might not always mix with your favorite hobby! Fostering that little sprout of interest—the same way you would care for a tiny seedling!—is the best way to get kids on the path of learning to love gardening. Here are some ideas for growing a kid-friendly vegetable garden in Northwest Arkansas this spring.
1. Give them a spot to tend on their own. If you have a garden already, pick out a sunny corner for them to look after. Or, if you're gardening in raised beds or containers, give them a container of their very own! If you're both just starting, you can reuse things like old kiddie pools or inexpensive terra cotta pots to experiment with gardening together.
2. Let them pick out a set of kid-sized tools. There's a reason that sandboxes and shovels are so popular with children–they love to dig! Let them pick out a set of sturdy, appropriately-sized garden tools so they can help in the garden. A shovel, rake, and hoe will be perfect tools to start with. Set up some kid-height storage space for their tools in the shed so that they're easy to find and put away.
3. Grow easy-care plants that pop up quite quickly, so they don't have to wait too long to see the results of their efforts. There are plenty of things that are easy to grow, but vegetables tend to be the most popular with kids. Carrots, sugar snap peas, lettuce, sunflowers, radishes, green onions, potatoes, strawberries, beans, and okra are all simple and rewarding to grow.
4. Make gardening fun. If it's fun, they'll keep coming back for more! There are so many easy science experiments that you can do in the garden that will help them learn more about the world around them. Let them test your soil to see what's in it; just add a few scoops of garden soil to a jar, fill it up with water, seal it, and shake, shake, shake! Then, let the jar settle for a few hours or overnight. In the morning, you'll be able to see and explain the different layers of sediment that make up your garden soil.
5. Get wet and wild! What do kids love most about being outside, right after the digging? Playing with water! Whether it's with a watering wand on the hose or small watering can, let them help you water the pots and garden beds.
6. Let them grow what they know. For most kids, being able to eat familiar fruits and veggies right off the plant is fascinating. Berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, beans, and peas are all perfect for snacking in the garden. Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes are a particular favorite with our kid customers. They're classified as a yellow tomato, but they turn a great shade of bright orange when they're ready to be picked. The color itself is a novelty since most kids think red when they hear tomato, and they're a perfect size for little hands to pluck and eat. They're incredibly sweet tomatoes, and one plant alone can produce hundreds in one season! On top of that, they're super easy to grow and very disease resistant. Add these tasty gems to your garden this summer!
7. Be patient. Kids have such short attention spans that it can be tough to keep them engaged with gardening for more than a few minutes in a row. That's okay! Don't force the chores on them, or your child may start to resent gardening. Let them play, wander, dig, and discover in the garden. When they're interested in something, get excited with them and help them learn. Keep an eye on their gardens, even when they aren't. They'll stay engaged and gain some confidence if their plants succeed. If you let them play with gardening when they're interested, they'll be a lot more likely to keep it up in the future.
How your kid engages with the garden is going to be somewhat different based on their age. A toddler-friendly garden is more of a place to dig and play in the dirt while you manage the plant care. But by their fourth birthday, they can really start to get involved with gardening if you make it fun for them. Pay attention to what interests them, and find fun ways to explore and learn about those interests in the realm of your garden.Give us a call to arrange curbside pickup if you're ready to get started with some of these kid-friendly garden ideas! We've got everything they need to get growing their own flowers, fruits, and veggies in Northwest Arkansas.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
