Plant an idea
Get little ones away from the screens and into the garden this Easter, with fun activities to stir up a love for nature that will keep on growing
Spring is the perfect time to get children gardening. As the weather warms up, exciting new life is everywhere. So here are some inventive ways to get the kids growing this Easter and make the most of the great outdoors.
DESIGNATED KID ZONE
When I was a kid, I grew mint, raspberries and strawberries – I loved doing it. It installed a lifelong interest in plants.
You should do the same for your children and grandchildren. Giving them a bit of ownership works wonders and you’ll be amazed at the incredible ideas they come up with.
If you want to get creative, section off a small, manageable patch of garden and have them paint their own rainbow-coloured picket fence or their own named signposts. Then let them go wild.
If you’re not lucky enough to have a garden, make space for a planter or pots on your balcony or patio.
Flipping through a gardening catalogue with them is a great way to spark their interest in the amazing varieties of plants on offer. If your kids love being on the go, taking them to the garden centre and letting them pick plants and seeds off the shelves can be really inspiring.
These days, they can also pick their own miniature gloves and brightly coloured tools to express themselves.
Giving them their own container or window box to plant in or letting them choose small plants, such as tasty herbs, to grow indoors are all fantastic options.
Taking before and after photos can also be a real motivator as they get to see the difference they have made.
SENSORY DELIGHT
Choosing plant varieties that delight your children’s senses with enticing smells, tastes and textures, is another great way to get them into gardening.
My older two love Aloysia citrodora, lemon verbena, which smells like lemon sherbet, and cosmos, as the flower has a chocolate scent.
For leaves with a fun texture, grow bergenia. It feels like a leathery elephant’s ear.
Or try fuzzy Stachys byzantina, which is textured like a lamb’s ear – perfect to encourage children to engage with nature through touch. Another big hit with my girls is chocolate peppermint, which has leaves that smell of chocolate creams.
EXTRA-FUN PLANTS
There is no doubt about it, growing food with children is a big hit. Mine get so excited as they watch fruit ripen and we have so much fun picking together come harvest time.
You can even get raspberry and blackberry cultivars that are practically thornless so very safe around your little ones.
If you are short on space, go for a
Its leaves have an incredible texture, like an elephant’s ear
potager gardening style with a mix of crops, flowers and herbs to enhance the space. This combines a functional vegetable plot with the visual appeal of a garden.
Plant in a sunny spot in the middle of an ornamental border and take care to buy primocane varieties, such as Polka raspberries and Reuben blackberries, that fruit on new growth if you want fruit this summer.
Treat them well and plants will continue producing for years to come.
You can also buy crops in unusual colours – from ‘Deep Purple’ carrots to ‘Sungold’ tomatoes and ‘Pink Sapphire’ blueberries.
You will find lots of unusual varieties that appeal to junior gardeners at garden centres these days.
GET CRAFTY
If your kids love craft activities, there are many ways to put this to good use.
They could paint flat stones to serve as plant labels or decorate terracotta pots with colourful designs.
Funny faces on pots work particularly well because the plant looks like a crazy hairdo on top. Use acrylic paints and apply a sealer for use outside or use up leftover emulsion for indoor fun.
Roll a crafty decoration and wildlife haven into one by making a bug hotel out of hollow bamboo canes, corrugated cardboard and pine cones.
These serve as nesting sites for friendly solitary bees, which will help to pollinate crops and flowers, as well as for ladybirds and lacewings, which eat garden pests, such as greenfly.
You could also make bird fat balls together in the kitchen and hang them up in your garden. For full details of
how to make insect hotels and bird treats, visit my website, daviddomoney.com.
You can also give kids a magnifying glass and colouring-in sheet that asks them to spot mini beasts.
Or task them with picking flowers to press, then use them to make special cards for birthdays.
And for young children, old kitchen pans and utensils in a disused border will make for hours of fun as they cook something up in the mud kitchen.
So get into the garden with your little ones for many days of family fun.