Gift ideas for young gardeners
Last week, I posted some ideas for gardenrelated holiday gifts for grown-up gardeners. But what about gifts for the young, budding gardeners in your life? Reader Sharon Richardson, of Chester Springs, noticed the omission and emailed me a list of great suggestions. She wrote, “I loved your article on gift giving — might I recommend gifts for children that have to do with gardening or nature?”
Here are her suggestions:
1 — Lee Valley has a very reasonably-priced, heavy-duty plastic set of tools for kids that we love for our grandsons. My grandson LOVES this tool set: https://www.leevalley.com/enus/shop/garden/garden-care/ sets/58240-small-garden-toolset?item=AA615 The company markets it as sturdy plastic tools for working on your indoor plants, but they are perfect for my grandson’s little hands and the tools don’t break. The set includes a wide trowel, fourprong cultivator, weeding fork, narrow trowel, two-prong cultivator, and a weeder.
Also from Lee Valley, we’ve also gotten our youngest grandson a wheel barrow. He’s growing up on a farm and feels quite comfortable snapping young asparagus off and eating it raw! And at three years old, he was so proud to wheel his asparagus harvest up to the back deck!
For other options If you google “children’s gardening tools,” you’ll see plenty of small brooms, rakes, etc. Amazon has quite a selection to give you an idea.
2 — Several companies make children’s gardening gloves, which can make a great gift — although my grandsons like getting their hands dirty! You can take it a step further, and get kevlar gloves to prevent children from cutting their fingers when using sharp tools. (These are generally sold to use for cooking with children to keep their fingers safe when handling sharp knives.) I haven’t tried dividing bulbs and tubers with my grandson yet, but when we do that, he’ll be wearing gloves that protect him from cutting himself.
https://www.amazon.com/kids-kevlargloves/s?k=kids+kevlar+gloves
3 — Another fun idea is to let kids grow their own mushrooms. There are several companies that sell kits, but so far I’ve only tried the ones where you grow the mushrooms on rolls of toilet paper. This is a great hit with both grown-ups and kids. It’s quite simple, but I learned that following the instructions is very important. (I was being too neat!) Here’s a link to a short video that shows how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA76-kz15vc These mushroom kits go by the name “Tee Pee Kits” and are sold by Field and Forest Products: https://www.fieldforest. net/product/Oyster-TeePee-Kit/ Indoor-Introductions There are other mushroom growing kits, for example, I’ve thought about using logs, but that requires you to find a specific kind of wood, cure it, drill it, etc. The toilet paper is much quicker and easier.
4 — Books about nature and/ or the environment would also be good. For instance, Peter Wohlleben, who wrote “The Hidden Life of Trees,” has created a version for kids, titled, “Can you Hear the Trees Talking?”
Many thanks to Sharon Richardson for these ideas. Following her lead, I did a little browsing on the internet myself, and found these sites that also look promising:
Montessori Tool Kit — Shovel, Hoe, Garden Rake, Leaf Rake. Painted metal, with wood handles. https://bit.ly/3EDB1un
Hearthsong offers a similar set of metal/wood tools plus a wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow and the tool set can be purchased separately. https://bit. ly/3y4WD0v 15 Best Garden Tools for Kids: https://www.bestproducts. com/parenting/g32268171/kidsgardening-tools/?slide=15 OR https://bit.ly/3lKWH0p I also invite you to check out “On Grandpa’s Beach in Maine,” my newest nature-related book. (For children ages 4-6.) Go to https://www.amazon.com/author/pamelabaxter
Note: Holiday plants bring brightness and cheer into our homes, but they also pose a health risk to pets who might ingest them. For a list of the top 10 plants that contain toxins that can harm your pets, go to my “Chester County Roots” Facebook page and search the recent posts.