Children in the Backyard Garden

Children are natural gardeners - they are curious, like to learn by doing and love to play in the dirt. There is no 'right' age for children to start gardening. Use your backyard garden as a vehicle for encouraging children to make good food choices.

You can involve young children by appealing to all of their senses.

Smell: Encourage them to smell flowers and herbs. Get them to rub in their fingers and smell thyme and rosemary, or any other herb variety.

Taste: You have the opportunity to let children sample the taste of freshly-picked produce that they cared for and made grow. What can be better than the bite of a sun warmed tomato, just picked cucumber. Let them be the first to pull up young carrots, and radish.

Sight: There is so much for children to see in your backyard garden. An inspiration for pictures of their labor.

Sound: In the garden, your child will hear the birds singing and the buzz of bees as they visit each flower in turn.

Touch: Children touch what they see, so encourage them to experience different texture in your backyard garden. Let them handle seeds. Digging soil and getting their hands dirty is a great lesson. Finding homes for any worms you dig up gives them a worthwhile task, especially when they learn how beneficial they are for the soil.

Easy to grow , short growing season, fun to harvest

Fava Beans - The dwarf variety can be grown in small gardens or containers.

Lettuce/Mescaline - Lettuce like part shade, keep soil moist, germination 7-10 days growing season 40-50 days. Head lettuce varieties will mature sooner, about 30-35 days - Good way to interest kids in eating salad.

Radish - Germination 3-10 days, growing season 20-30 days. Plants in cool weather for a mild radish, or hot weather for a hotter radish.

Cherry Tomatoes - These are a lot of fun for a child. Plant in full sun. Put 2" stake alongside each seedling; they need to be tied loosely to stakes as they grow. Water at ground level to keep leaves dry. Growing season is 50-75 days. Cherry Tomatoes can be grown in containers.

Cheat a Little: Depending on the age of the child, you may need to help out a little 'behind the scene'. Not every garden task is pleasant and they may not be ready at all times for all chores. You may need to go out in the evening to pick a few slugs off the lettuce or be the one to run the sprinkler. They don't have to know about every little bit of help you offer - the child's 'ownership' of the plot is the main thing.

Young gardeners - Resource Center

The Great Plant Escape - this is a great primer on gardening written for children; follow the clues and learn the plant growing basics.

My First Garden - a wonderful site from the University of Illinois. All you need to know about getting started with your first garden in a fun and kid-friendly way.

The Adventure of Herman the Worm - Activities, games, and linfo.

KinderGARDEN - Has many links and resources for teaching children about gardening. Check out the fun page and the book list.

Pumpkin Circle - Educational pumpkin-growing activities for kids for home or school

kidsgardening.com/ - view data from 2008 that quantifies the benefits of school and youth gardens

click on picture for other backyard garden items