I am happy to share this article on DIY gardening ideas for kids by Tom Graham of the Yard and Garden Guru. Now is the time to start thinking about fun projects to get your little ones excited about gardening for the summer. Tom shares several easy projects to inspire you and your children for the coming months. Do you have a favorite gardening idea for kids? Let us hear about it below!
Gardening Ideas for Kids
The growing season is well and indeed upon us, and parents aim to get their kids outside more instead of playing on electronic gadgets all day. The question parents are faced with is how to entice kids outside and come up with gardening ideas for kids to enjoy.
DIY is the answer, and now everyone is into gardening, parents can combine the two and come up with some ideas for their kids to make and grow. Try these backyard gardening ideas for kids to get the little ones in your life outdoors this summer.
Tomato Planters
This is super easy for kids to make and once their tomatoes begin growing, they’ll be so proud of their achievement. All it takes is some empty plastic drinking water bottles, some twine, potting soil and some tomato starter plants.
With some supervision, the kids can cut the bottoms off the bottles, and then four holes need to be punched on each side. Four pieces of twine are fed through and fastened together at the top. Once this is done, carefully feed the starter plant through the hole of the bottle, so the leaves hang outside. From here they are filled with potting soil and watered, and now you only have to find a nail to hang them on.
Homemade Sprinkler
You won’t find this on any garden vegetable list of things to buy, but get the children making one, and it sure is handy when you want to water your veggies.
All the kids need is a sturdy plastic bottle, a garden hose that can be connected to the outside faucet, waterproof tape (Tyvek or similar) and a drill. Under supervision get the kids to drill some holes along the top half of the bottle and then tape the hose into the neck of the bottle. Once that’s done stand back, and you have a sprinkler which is ideal for the garden and won’t waterlog your veggie patch as easy.
Kid–Sized Raised Bed
These are super easy to make, and your kids can have an entire area to themselves. With very few materials they can be growing their own veggies in a matter of no time. Materials needed are 1 or 2 lengths of wooden decking (not pressure treated), potting soil, compost or manure and some seedlings which are ready to plant.
The simple steps are to cut the decking into 2 long lengths and two shorter lengths. Around 4 feet by 2 feet is more than ideal. All you do then is place it where your kids wish to grow and fill it up with soil. This is a fantastic way to teach children how to start a vegetable garden from scratch.
With some dug in compost your kids can take the seedlings, and dot them around the raised bed, and they are off. With some watering and TLC, they will be proud of anything when their veggies are ripe for harvest.
Kids DIY Milk Carton Herb Gardens
This is one DIY gardening idea for kids while the weather isn’t the best outside. All they need are some safety scissors and old milk cartons which have been washed. The hardest part is cutting one side off the carton, and from their, all they need to do is fill with potting soil and plant their herbs.
These are a fantastic way of recycling and bringing the garden indoors. Placed in bright windows, you can have fresh herbs for the kitchen thanks to your kid’s DIY project which is scattered around the home. The good thing about these is it will teach the kids how to tend to things, a little watering and as much sun as they can get and your kids will love their new creations.
There are many ways the kids can get involved with DIY projects in the garden, and as you can see from the sprinkler, not all of them need to be with growing veggies. They can make or build lots of things which will be helpful in the garden during the growing season. All you need is a little ingenuity and guidance to the little ones.
For the bigger kids, they can tackle full sized gardening projects which will keep them out of mischief over the summer. There are plenty of natural vegetables to grow where kids can take charge. Larger tomatoes planters are great to stand or hang in sunny locations. Hanging baskets are merely a larger version of the recycled water bottle idea.
No matter what the kids build, they will be learning something very new and something which as they get older can be very, very useful. Now is the time to start planning and get the gardening ideas for kids started for a successful summer garden.
About the Author
Tim Graham is a blogger over at YardandGardenGuru.com where he writes about his passions in life yard care, gardening and the outdoors. Outside of this Tim usually finds himself knee-deep in lawn clippings, weeds, and grandchildren.
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