Notebook
Create the perfect play space with these ingenious ideas for youngsters
Keeping young children entertained in the garden means giving them engaging, creative projects to take part in. Activities that are too complicated or require too much patience are best saved for older children. For youngsters (around 5-9 years), go for easy, practical undertakings such as: Helping. One of the best things a young gardener can do is lend a hand with chores. Allocate safe and easy supervised jobs such as watering, slug and snail collecting, gathering moss from the lawn, deadheading and harvesting ready-to-eat edibles such as cherry tomatoes and strawberries. Making things. Often this can involve recycling or decorating, using materials that come readily to hand. Good choices include making an insect hotel, seedbombs, petal perfume and mud pies. Sowing. Waiting for seeds to germinate seems to take ages for young gardeners. Keep them interested by sowing regularly so there’s always something above the soil to see. With any project, keep the kiddies away from sharp or heavy tools and poisonous plants.