With the nation spending more time at home than ever before, it’s the perfect opportunity to get children helping you to spruce up the garden in time for summer. Need inspiration on how to involve your children in gardening this year and peel them away from their screens? You've come to the right place.
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From games to planting, we’ve got three top tips that will help keep children entertained whilst ticking some jobs off your list. And, of course, you can never go wrong with pushing them around the garden in the wheelbarrow...
Top tips on how to involve your children in gardening:
1. MAKE IT A GAME
A job that often needs doing this time of year is weeding and sweeping the patio. But to make things fun, why not turn it into a game? A quick contest of who can pull up the most weeds in five minutes will not only have the kids running around burning energy, but will help you - and your back – by getting the job done quickly.
When it comes to cleaning the patio, why not see who can pick up the most leaves or sweep any debris into the biggest pile? The reward? An afternoon of fun games in the recently tidied garden.
Top tip: Ensure all little helpers are wearing gardening gloves to protect their hands.
2. GIVE THEM ROOM TO GROW
If space allows, give them their own area of the garden to grow vegetables or fruits. Stack walling is ideal for creating a raised garden bed that can be filled with soil (try bradstone.com for a great option). Once complete, the children can choose what to plant and take responsibility of weeding and watering the area each day. They could even start a diary and document the plants' progress over the months as they grow and flourish.
Top tip: Sensory plants can be beneficial for children with special needs as it encourages them to explore and enjoy the garden.
3. PLANT IN COLOUR
Children are extremely visual and you’ll no doubt get them excited if you plant lots of bold, bright colours. Why not section off different parts of your garden with a sleeper edging and arrange different colour bedding plants in each area? The children can then get their fingers dirty by helping to plant and maintain the flowers – some of which can be in their favourite colour.
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