"Kids Gardening Projects
Fun in the garden!"

There are any number of kids gardening projects you could take on with your offspring! Here are a few ideas to get you going :-)

Weather Station From measuring rainfall to temperatures, weather stations are fun and very useful to the home gardener.

Find rain gauges and thermoneters at your local garden centre.

Amazon (US) have a whole range of weather instruments, including this cute pointing gnome rain gauge.( US deliveries )

Pointing Gnome Rain Gauge - This link will take you directly to the product page, but there are loads more to choose from!

Bag 'o' spuds!

A few seed potatoes can be grown in a bag full of compost. No digging and easy to do! Choose a strong bag - a black refuse sack or a custom 'grow-bag'

Pot Painting

A kids gardening project you can do indoors or out... Choose a few plastic or clay pots and paint some snazzy colourful flowers or silly faces on the side. Grow some chives in a pot with a face painted on it, and the chives instantly become a spiky hair style!

Growing something different

Create a mini-greenhouse and grow exotic flowers and fruits. Or how about growing your own Giant Sequoia. Now there's a thought!

Many plants can be grown from shop bought fruits and vegetables: melon seeds, carrot tops, even pineapples and avocados. Find out how to grow avocados on this page...... Growing Avocado They are worth a try. Sometimes the results will delight, but even if an experiment doesn't work first time, it's fun and a great learning process for kids of all ages!

Scrapbooking

Fill a scrapbook with pressed flowers and leaves or get really creative and produce pressed flower portraits which you could later frame and give as gifts to gardening friends.

Birdhouses and feeders

Birdhouses and birdfeeders will provide hours of entertainment for the young wildlife enthusiast! Pop over to this page to find out more... Birdhouse
And if you're thinking about wildlife, perhaps a butterfly garden would suit your space. Find out more about creating a butterfly garden on this page: Butterfly Gardens

Kids gardening projects - where to begin:

I guess the first step is to create the interest if not already there. Find something in the planned project that will appeal to your child's nature. You will know whether the idea of:

carniverous bugs lurking in the cabbages,

stoically digging holes and toiling hard,

or maybe producing flowers to press,

will appeal to your child.

Whatever way you can, get him or her into the garden and raring to go!

Allot the space and prepare as you would any veggie patch. Dig deeply and turn in some well-rotted manure or compost.Rake over, removing any weeds and large stones.

Now you have the prepared land, let your imagination run wild!

"Grow Your Own Veggies"

Give your 'budding gardener' friends a unique and personal gift this season...Kids Gardening Projects - Find out more here...

Kids gardening projects - edging the veggies:

Create a border round the new veggie patch. There are a number of things you can use for this, depending on your budget or what you have available:

low growing flowers.

split logs pushed in vertically

Large stones / small rocks

narrow length of chicken wire - careful though. chicken wire can bite.

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The other ideas should be at least supervised by an adult. If the child is slightly older and is a whiz with a hammer, then split logs could be a good option.

Large stones or small rocks can look stunning and can be used to grow small trailing plants over. However placing rocks and stones can pinch, so protective gloves are best worn, and preferably protective boots.

Again chicken wire can bite! Protective gloves a must and a little DIY knowledge could come in handy when erecting a small fence.

As far as you can, choose seed types that germinate fairly quickly. Hopefully you may have started off some seeds indoors earlier in the spring with your child, and these plants will make a great start to the garden.

Sow short lines of seeds. Maybe plant one line every day.

It's important to check your garden every day, even if only for five minutes.

It can take longer to get your boots, gloves, hat and coat on than it takes to weed a whole bed if the ground has been prepared properly beforehand!

Daily checklist for the veggie patch:

Pull out any weeds

Water if ground is dry

Watch out for birds stealing the seeds you've sown. Make a bird scarer with old CDs strung up over the veggie patch.

Sow small lines of seeds regularly.

Thin or transplant seedlings as they grow big enough.

There's always something you can do in the garden and it's good to get the fresh air and be in touch with nature every day. And don't forget the daisy chains. One of the most relaxing of summer pastimes with the kids! Find out how to grow daisies here...Daisies Oh, and even blowing those dandelion clocks could be useful, as well as fun! Find out more about dandelions on this page ......Dandelions

Happy Gardening!

More Kids Gardening Projects

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