How to Help Children Plant a Flower Garden

Overview

Planting a flower garden with your children can be a fun way to introduce them to gardening. To children, even the most common plant is a new experience. The garden is full of bright colors and interesting textures for them to explore. There are also lessons to learn such as how different flowers grow, form seeds, and change throughout the seasons. Nonetheless, it is the fun of playing in the dirt that your children will remember.

Step 1

Check your garden area beforehand and remove any old wire, sharp tools, and delicate garden ornaments.

Step 2

Prepare the garden bed by clearing weeds and tilling in compost. If your children would like to help with this, give them child-sized digging tools and point them toward a specific area of the garden.

Step 3

Take suggestions from the children and make sure to grow some of their favorite flowers. Back this up with easy-to-grow potted annuals such as impatiens, petunias marigolds.

Step 4

Grow plants from seed as well so that the children can enjoy watching them pop out of the ground. Choose flowers with large seeds such as sunflowers and four o'clocks, which will be easy for children to handle.

Step 5

Lay out areas for the various plants to grow with ribbons and string. These can be temporary markers for planting or you can anchor them by tying them to sticks on either side of the garden beds.

Step 6

Plant potted annuals and seeds in separate areas. Cover the seeds with a fine layer of sand so that the children will know where to look for them.

Step 7

Emphasize to the children that they should be gentle when planting the potted annuals-but plant a few extra, just in case.

Step 8

Give the children watering cans and have them water the newly planted seeds and plants.