Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Gardening: Getting the Kids Involved

We welcomed our second daughter in April and everyone is doing great!  It’s been an adjustment juggling the 2 children and work, but I think I am starting to get a good routine down.  I want to give a shout-out to all those busy moms with multiple kids! 

With spring here and summer right around the corner, our lovely summer bulbs at home and at school are popping out of the ground! The weather is getting continually nicer making it easier to enjoy the outdoors. My 3 year old and I have really enjoyed gardening this year. It has been such an educational and fun experience to teach her where our fruits and veggies come from.  We had a great time going to the local gardening store to pick out seeds and bright, fun gardening gloves.  Then we were off to the backyard with our green thumbs! We’ve had such a fun time learning where food comes from and growing our own vegetables and flowers.  Here are some ideas we have used and really loved!

We set out a sheet or tablecloth under our planting area.  You could even use a cheap plastic shower curtain and throw the whole shoot-and-match away at the end.    That would make clean-up so much easier! This year, we used egg cartons to start our seeds, but we’ve also used tin cans or newspaper seed pots in the past (these can be found in the dollar section of Target.)


I find that spoons are easier for my little one to use than trowels, especially if we are planting in small containers. We use little cups of water to water each seed so we don’t overwater them.



We like to play a guessing game about what each seed will look like before we open the seed packets. Then we talk about what it will look like as it grows!


I’d love to hear about your gardening adventures with your kids too! Feel free to leave your stories in the comments section below!

Also, be sure to check out our pinterest board “Gardening with Kids” for more ideas and inspiration! Happy Gardening! 

To learn more about one of Seattle’s best preschools and drop-off childcare programs visit www.blossomingbudspreschool.com and www.blossomingbudscottage.com.