With the summer holidays round the corner, consider getting the kids away from their screens and out into the garden. Whether they’re toddlers or teens, there are plenty of rewarding projects they can do – and this is the perfect time of year for them to get involved! Try our nine Gardening Activities for Kids – and if you’ve any ideas you’d like to share, please let us know and we’ll add them to this feature: events@helomediagroup.co.uk.
Grow Runner Beans
The main issue with engaging youngsters in gardening is things take time to grow and kids can be pretty impatient. Runner beans are a really fast growing plant so they’re a great first step to introduce kids to gardening because they can watch them grow from seeds in a few weeks. Runner beans do well in any sized container or pot, or in the ground of course, as long as you give them plenty of sun, water and something to climb up. Start them off indoors on a sunny windowsill if you can, and keep an eye out for slugs once you move them outside.
Build a Bug Hotel
A really easy activity, especially for younger kids, to give insects and pollinators safe spaces to hide from predators and raise a family. If you’ve got some bricks, wooden crates or old pallets knocking about, they’ll be perfect to start your hotel. Divide the space into sections if you can and fill each part with different materials to attract different bugs. Dry leaves, twigs, dead grass, bits of bark, pine cones, bits of bamboo, stones, broken crockery and hollow stems are perfect for creating warm dry spaces to attract creepy crawlies. This is a great way to introduce kids to ecosystems and how they can make a difference.
Make a Bird Bath
Birds can struggle finding something to drink if it’s a hot summer – a simple bird bath will attract them to your garden. Any shallow, wide container will do – just fill it up with water and watch the birds congregate. Keep the kids engaged by seeing how many species of bird they attract and making a list. Give them responsibility for replacing the water with fresh water every day. Creating a bird bath is an ideal start to attracting wildlife to your garden – the kids will love it!
Plant Sunflowers
Sunflowers, like beans, grow super fast from seed. Give them good soil in a sunny, sheltered spot and they’ll be happy. They’ll grow in pots but, if you want them as tall as possible, they much prefer being planted in the ground. Water them regularly – every night if you can – make it a little ritual with the kids. Take a photo each week with your youngsters standing next to them to chart how fast they’re growing. With any luck, by the end of the summer you should have flowers towering over you! At the end of summer, gather a few seeds from the dead flowers to plant next year – leave the seeds you don’t need and watch the birds feast on them!
Create a Fairy Garden
If you’re lucky enough to have a tree, younger kids will love collecting stones for paths and twigs for fences to create a Fairy Garden at its base. Maybe plant ferns or smaller plants around the trunk and tie ribbons to branches to attract fairies. Decorate the lid of a butter tub or a piece of shaped cardboard to make a fairy door into the tree. Kids have incredible imaginations, let them run wild and design an enchanted garden they can be proud of.
Paint Colourful Containers
Let the kids loose with paint on some old flower pots or even empty jars. Challenge them to create colourful flowery patterns to transform a boring old object into something that’ll look great in the garden. Visit your local garden centre and let the kids choose some perennials for their works of art – marigolds, geraniums and hosta are perhaps the easiest to grow but there are dozens of species to choose from. Ask a member of staff what will work best in the space you’ll be planting in.
Build a Den
Create an adult-free space with whatever you’ve got lying around. Stack stuff against a wall – timber and branches are best – or create a simple temporary den with an old bedsheet. Nail one side to a fence and pin the other side to the ground – it’s about giving the kids a space to own so let them lead the project – you’re just in charge of Health & Safety!
Make a Grass Bucket Seat
Create a grass seat that will last all summer and beyond, and encourage the kids to trim it with shears or scissors. Make some drainage holes in an old metal bucket or bin, fill it to the brim with soil or compost and sprinkle grass seed. Water it well – don’t let it dry out – and let it do its thing. In a couple of weeks, once the grass is established, your kids have got their very own grass seat! Let the grass grow nice and thick before trimming it and then keep it neat every couple of weeks til the end of summer.
Create a Succulent Display
If you don’t have a garden, succulents planted in a wide tray look good for months on end and require little maintenance. Let the kids choose the plants they want to grow from the garden centre. Arrange the plants evenly around the container and fill the gaps with cactus compost. Let the kids take ownership and complete the look with some gravel and their own accessories – dinosaurs, cars, whatever they’re into this year.
Happy gardening, kids!
