Make Gardening Fun for Kids

Kid-Friendly Plants and Garden Designs For Future Green Thumbs

Sep 30, 2009

Getting kids involved in gardening is a challenge, even without competition from cool gadgets. Create a unique garden atmosphere that draws kids into eager participation.

The more fun the garden's atmosphere, the harder it will be for kids to resist getting involved. Help them develop green thumbs in no time with creative gardening concepts and unusual plants that appeal to budding gardeners.

Unusual Plant Choices

Plenty of indoor and outdoor plants have weird names or strange features that appeal to young gardeners, who instinctively gravitate towards cool-sounding concepts. Like "dragon's blood" stonecrop, the "spiderwort" plant, and the "tapeworm" plant, whose weird flat green leaves resemble the real deal. Letting kids choose plants that appeal to them encourages them to invest time in a garden plot, window box, or whatever piece of ground is handy.

Wacky Vegetable Selections

Weeding brussels sprouts or broccoli isn't exactly appealing to kids, who already hate the sight of those vegetables on their plate. They're far more likely to spend time in the vegetable garden if they're allowed to grow more appealing choices, such as sunflowers or swan gourds (so named because of their shape). Even vegetables like the scarlet runner beans -- whose shiny purple and black peas look like something straight out of the Beanstalk fairytale -- seem attractive to young gardeners compared to the plain green variety.

Nothing gets kids into the act faster than the magic words "Jack o' Lantern". Pumpkins are easy to grow, although they do require a little extra outdoor space; the plants offer incredible variety, from mini "baby boos" in ghostly white to monster varieties like the oversized "Big Max." Harvest time means additional fun, when kids are rewarded by seeing their hard work become their very own Halloween lantern.

Flower Power and Nature Havens

An array of colorful plants and unique garden schemes can create a non-vegetable garden for kids who feel drawn to nature or botany instead of agricultural growth. A tangled flower garden of bright colors, for instance, requires as much care as rows of cucumber or squash. Choose vibrant selections like chrysantthemums, petunias, hollyhocks, and snapdragons to create a beautiful landscape in the style of an English garden or simple, well-manicured beds along the backyard fence.

A bird or butterfly have in the form of a garden is perfect tor young nature lovers. Kids will be fascinated by a bird-filled garden created with feeders, bird baths, and plants. Choose blossoms designed to attract a variety of birds, with sunflowers for seed lovers or bright red blooms for hummingbirds. A butterfly garden filled with wildflowers or colorful hybrids, along with a "butterfly house" holds big rewards for curious young gardeners interested in studying the insects up close.

Any first-time garden experience should be spent in activitites that draw kids willingly into participation. Creating a garden with concepts that encourage kids to invest time and effort will help develop future green thumbs.

The copyright of the article Make Gardening Fun for Kids in Vegetable Gardens is owned by Sarah Briggs. Permission to republish Make Gardening Fun for Kids in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.