Gardening with children: ideas and tips for a cool gardening time

Playing with an app or watching a film – children quickly become enthusiastic about this. Other activities, however, require persuasiveness. The problem is that screen time is constantly increasing - and has negative effects on health, such as difficulty concentrating or sleep problems. Parents would do well to rely more on analogue alternatives and motivate their children to do activities away from smartphones, TVs and PCs. One option is to care for and cultivate the garden together. Children get to know nature more deeply and experience different stages of plant development. At the same time, they take responsibility and know where the fruit and vegetables in the supermarket come from. Spring is particularly good for first projects, because at this time of year things sprout and grow everywhere. There is so much to discover, smell, see and feel. An optimal scenario to train the senses. But if you want to garden with children, you need a few creative ideas - this is the only way children can swap the screen for a shovel, seeds, etc. We have therefore collected a few tips for gardening with children.

Awaken curiosity and create enthusiasm

To begin with, it is important to arouse curiosity about the garden and everything that happens there. Observing, explaining and playfully discovering nature together are essential for this and, to a certain extent, form the breeding ground on which enthusiasm for gardening ideally grows. So first take a walk with your child through your green oasis and make them aware of their surroundings: What is crawling on the floor? Which flowers are currently opening their blossoms? What smells so good? Which fruits are already ripening? And how do the leaves differ from tree to tree?

Our further tips for gardening with children will get you started in medias res:

Create a child-friendly garden: One of the most important basic requirements is a child-friendly design. Prickly or even poisonous plants are therefore taboo and even overly minimalist gardens do not invite exploration. It is much better to focus on variety, to offer children hiding places or other interesting corners and, above all, to create many opportunities for harvesting - for example in the form of children's raised beds, trees and bushes. Because harvesting is the favorite activity of young gardeners. Also make sure that you always keep pesticides and dangerous garden tools out of reach.

Implement your first garden project: If the child is already finding his way around the garden well and finally wants to lend a hand, it is time for his first garden project. Involve the young people in all preparations right from the start, because participation is an essential success factor. If you want to sow certain plants, find out which fruits and vegetables your child particularly likes or which flowers they love. At the same time, it can be incredibly motivating to see exactly how a project develops from initial considerations to actual implementation. Inspiration for your first garden projects can be found at the end of this article.

Buy gardening tools for children: Normal garden tools are usually unsuitable for children's hands - and quickly lead to excessive demands. It is therefore advisable to use special utensils for children. These include buckets, shovels, rakes or watering cans in mini versions. Also make sure that the devices are always stored in a specific place after work is done - this will stimulate your child's sense of order.

Invite friends: Most children love company - so it can be even more fun if they can dig in the earth or harvest sweets with friends. So think about who your child's gardening accomplices could become. If you only have a limited amount of space, you can also use community gardens.

Enjoy and relax: First the work, then the enjoyment - plan enough time to enjoy the harvest together, inspect the work done from a cozy place and be proud of what you have achieved. Our CHICO hammocks and hammock chairs are the ideal places to do this. They can be placed in the garden and are suitable for snacking as well as relaxing and listening to exciting garden stories.

Ideas for your first garden projects

Start small with your first garden projects and focus on projects that promise quick success so as not to strain the child's patience. A few possibilities:

Have your first garden work done: The first activities that children can take on in the garden include watering, sowing and harvesting. Raking leaves and digging up beds are added later. By the way: A bed doesn't necessarily have to be rectangular and do not have to be decorated - for example, put a circle or even a star around it and decorate the area with colorful pebbles or small pieces of wood.

Sow fast-growing vegetable plants: These include radishes, salads, sugar peas or chives. If you have little space: Many herbs can also be grown in pots on the balcony or on a sunny windowsill. Plants that score points with edible flowers, such as nasturtiums, violets or mallow, are also exciting. And strawberries and raspberries are perfect for snacking.

Watch regrowing of vegetables: It can also be interesting to watch how vegetables renew themselves. Some varieties grow back and can sprout again - such as spring onions, leeks, carrots, celery or lettuce.

Make your own seed bombs: To do this, clay, potting soil and the respective seeds are mixed with a little water. The seed bombs can then be thrown out in the garden - and green things will soon emerge from them.

Build an insect hotel: Insect hotels are extremely valuable for small garden dwellers and can be made yourself in no time. There are plenty of instructions and inspiration for this on the internet.

Paint and decorate pots: Another option is to paint flower pots or decorate them with other decorative materials such as shells or stones - an excellent project even for smaller apartments and houses.

Craft with natural materials: You can collect all sorts of things in the garden for craft projects. How about a picture made of dried leaves or figures made of pine cones or chestnuts? Painting stones is also an option. Pumpkin carving is especially popular in the fall.

Final tip: keep a garden diary

A garden diary is a wonderful way to document your successes with notes, anecdotes from the green oasis and photos. There is also space for dried leaves and seeds. In winter, when it's a little quieter, you can leaf through it together and make the first plans for the new gardening season. All of this also represents a lasting memory for children and the enthusiasm and know-how for gardening is passed on to the next generation.