Last Updated on June 13, 2020 by MakeThingsReal
Making a kid-friendly garden doesn’t mean your garden will be filled with plastics and crayons. You can have a garden that is loved by yourself and your kid without spending a fortune.
Before we go into details on how to have a kid-friendly garden, let us look at some reasons why you should garden with your kids:
1. Great fun at minimal cost
With gardening, you don’t need to spend much for you to have fun with your kid. The important things you need are seed packets, soil mix, small pot to grow everything in and patience. For those who are new to gardening, starting small is often advised. Some of the easiest and straightforward seeds to grow include herbs and the cosmos – and if your garden is big enough – pumpkins.
For plant food, you can use your kitchen ingredients to prepare the concoction. A popular way of fighting fungus on seedlings involves the use of Chamomile tea.
2. Learning culture
Most children don’t know where their food comes from – with some believing it grows in the supermarket. A mini herb garden can be created by your kids and placed next to a window. Watch your kids grim with pride and fulfillment when you tell them their fresh herbs were used in the pasta sauce.
3. Science Lessons
Every scientific inquiry starts with observation. With gardening, you can put your children’s powers of observation to use by having them journalizing the garden journey in a journal.
This journal does not have to be about writing what they see – encourage them to draw pictures as well.
4. Lasting bond
When you weed, harvest and plant with your child, you will feel a sense of fulfillment and also bond with your kids. You will be amazed at how meticulous they become as they grow and this will only fuel your desire to spend more time with your children.
Here are ways to make a kid-friendly garden for your family.
1. Safety basics
When it comes to a garden that is made with your kids in mind, you have to be careful about the distribution of water. Not even a trough of water is safe when kids are around if it can be accessed unsupervised.
A toddler can drown in the smallest of water. For gardens that have a pond, you can get a safety grind around it, so your kids won’t fall into it.
You will need some form of containment as well to keep some areas of your garden away from your kids primarily to prevent children from running to the road. It doesn’t have to be extreme wire fences – a low hedge with wire behind will do the trick.
Soft landings on the lawn are also important. Children love to climb, especially if you have male children. If it’s easy for them to go up, make sure it’s safe for them to come down as well.
When buying plants, make sure you go for the ones that are safe around children (purchase labeled plants).
If you’re unsure about the safety of the plants, get the advice of a professional gardener. If you want your kids to help you choose plants, be sure to provide options from their favorite fruits and vegetables.
2. Personal Strategy
When it comes to personal safety for kids, we all have different strategies and ideas due to our experiences and the ages of our children. Do your research and ask experts, if you must. But, make sure you come up with a garden that you are comfortable with, and you feel safe for you and your children.
3. Remember the zones
Every parent wants an area for themselves and an area for the kids to feel safe. You can look at it like a set of rings bulging out of the house.The first area – closest to the house, should be the safest.
This is where your youngest children should play. Due to its proximity to the house, you should be able to see your kids playing without stepping out of the house. This form of arrangement also makes way for a little hands-off supervision.
4. Let kids be
Kids will always be kids. Relax your expectations and let them flourish. They will play games in your garden and sometimes will try to help you out. Remember the safety basics, but at the end of the day, you have to let them flourish.
You can also let them help you gather the autumn leaves and turn them into something unique for the plants by shredding them with the Electric Leaf Mulcher.
5. Prepping the Garden Bed
When it comes to power tilling tool, let the kids watch you operate it but always keep it out of their reach. Your children can help you spread the soil and fertilizer into the soil. Teach them the common names of the plants and gardening tools used such as shovel, rakes, and trowels.
Ask them questions about their learnings – ask where a plant should be planted, measure spacing for seed and plants. Let them be involved in the process.
6. Provide Garden Play Equipment
In other to make your garden child-friendly, you need to provide some play equipment for your children in the garden shed. We have noticed a lot of families have trampoline set up in the backyard and it is quite smart. Make sure you don’t set up too close to your neighbor’s wall for privacy. If you decide to get your children a football, get a miniature goal post to go with it. This will give them a better target to hit, unlike your house’s windows.
As adults, we view gardens as a place for tranquility and peace – that part of the house we can go to relax and let off steam. For kids, it is a playground where they can throw, run over and jump on things without any care in the world.
Setting up your garden to be child-friendly is essential and beneficial to your kids and for your peace of mind. The benefits of having your children spend time in your garden are too enormous to ignore the possibility of making the garden child-friendly.
For reviews on garden machines and useful tips about gardening, click on our website to read more.
