Easy Garden Projects for Kids

Credit: Flickr / HiroshimaGab

The garden offers plenty of wonders for young children

Q: I’d like to spend more time in the garden with my children this year. Can you suggest some fun, easy garden projects to do with young kids?

Even toddlers can “help” dig planting holes or turn the compost pile — a great way to explore the world of insects and earthworms.

Many children take great interest in growing vegetables and even trying the foods they help grow. Look for colourful or unusual varieties of edibles such as purple beans or golf-ball-shaped carrots.

You can also plant seeds in the shape of your child’s first initial or other simple shape. (Try radish for near-instant gratification. They germinate in three to 10 days and can be harvested within a month.)

Or, grow your own beanstalk. Scarlet runner beans are as tasty as they are pretty and their quick-growing vines can create a living teepee or green a playhouse wall.

Originally published in BC Home & Garden magazine. For regular updates, subscribe to our free Home and Garden e-newsletters, or purchase a subscription to the magazine.