Best Plants/Gardening Kits for Kids?

[LSJ-8]

Good Afternoon everyone,

My husband and I have two children. Our son is 3 and our daughter 10 months. We have begun homeschooling our 3 year old and we have talked in the past about starting a garden for him. This would be something separate from our own garden. I've seen various kits, greenhouses, and tools at the stores, but wanted something aside from a small pot for him. I would like to set aside a small section of our backyard that is JUST his.

What plants would you suggest planting for a 3 year old? I would like plants/vegetables that are easy to grow and maintain, as this garden would be his responsibility, but I would like for him to have something to show for his efforts (since his husband and I are terrible at growing things).

 

[Trellum]

Definitely succulents. Succulents are so easy to take care of, but might not be as entertaining as let say.... growing cucumbers? I grew cucumbers when I was just a teen and I was amazed! Growing and then harvesting something can make such an impact in the mind of a young person. If it was me I'd try with edibles, most likely cucumbers or tomatoes.

 

[LSJ-8]

Definitely succulents. Succulents are so easy to take care of, but might not be as entertaining as let say.... growing cucumbers? I grew cucumbers when I was just a teen and I was amazed! Growing and then harvesting something can make such an impact in the mind of a young person. If it was me I'd try with edibles, most likely cucumbers or tomatoes.

Thanks! Gardening is defiantly something that I want my son to do soon. My husband and I never gardened as kids (even though our parents did) and we never learned those valuable skills. I want to teach my son those important skills. I like the idea of starting with edibles, so then he can really enjoy all of his hard work.

 

[claudine]

Children are impatient, so choose something that grows really fast If I were you, I'd let him plant a few different plants, it will make things more interesting. Here is what first came to my mind:
- radishes - they're easy to grow and very healthy
- sunflowers
- forget-me-nots
- herbs

 

[gata montes]

One of the first things that immediately springs to mind that I know children love to grow LSJ-8 - are pumpkins - as not only are they extremely rapid growers but they are so easy to grow - that they almost grow entirely on their own with very little attention - in fact everything in that family of vegetables are very popular choices amongst children - so squash and zucchini would be good choices too - as well as melons - all of which are extremely easy to grow and care for.

Another favorite with young children - is strawberries - especially as there are not many children who don't like strawberries and love picking them too - so as they are again very easy to grow and can be planted either in the ground or in a container - they would be a good choice too

 

[LSJ-8]

Children are impatient, so choose something that grows really fast If I were you, I'd let him plant a few different plants, it will make things more interesting. Here is what first came to my mind:
- radishes - they're easy to grow and very healthy
- sunflowers
- forget-me-nots
- herbs

Thank you for the list. Patience is something that I forgot about (oops...) and my son defiantly does not have a lot of patience.

One of the first things that immediately springs to mind that I know children love to grow LSJ-8 - are pumpkins - as not only are they extremely rapid growers but they are so easy to grow - that they almost grow entirely on their own with very little attention - in fact everything in that family of vegetables are very popular choices amongst children - so squash and zucchini would be good choices too - as well as melons - all of which are extremely easy to grow and care for.

Another favorite with young children - is strawberries - especially as there are not many children who don't like strawberries and love picking them too - so as they are again very easy to grow and can be planted either in the ground or in a container - they would be a good choice too

My son loves pumpkins! That is a great idea. My son doesn't eat strawberries. He'll drink a strawberry milkshake or eat strawberry ice cream, but he won't eat the actual berry. Hopefully, planting them and investing time in them, he might actually try to bite into one for a change. Thanks!

 

[Trellum]

Thanks! Gardening is defiantly something that I want my son to do soon. My husband and I never gardened as kids (even though our parents did) and we never learned those valuable skills. I want to teach my son those important skills. I like the idea of starting with edibles, so then he can really enjoy all of his hard work.

Glad you liked my idea I think as a kid there is nothing more amazing and amusing that finding out you can actually make something edible grow! When I harvested those cucumbers I was blown away and I couldn't believe I did it! That made me feel so motivated to garden even more! I'll always remember that

 

[gata montes]

My son loves pumpkins! That is a great idea. My son doesn't eat strawberries. He'll drink a strawberry milkshake or eat strawberry ice cream, but he won't eat the actual berry. Hopefully, planting them and investing time in them, he might actually try to bite into one for a change. Thanks!

As your son loves pumpkins - I have to say that I think that choosing to grow them would be an ideal start to his gardening years - especially as - he would most likely to very keen to grow them himself without too much encouragement - as he likes them so much and of course the ideal thing for a young child as pumpkins don't require much patience or care.

If you haven't yet tried it - making strawberry smoothies sometimes helps tempt the little ones into liking strawberries - as once they've got used to having fresh strawberries in the form of a drink - they soon move onto eating them whole - and especially so when helping to prepare the smoothie

 

[LSJ-8]

Glad you liked my idea I think as a kid there is nothing more amazing and amusing that finding out you can actually make something edible grow! When I harvested those cucumbers I was blown away and I couldn't believe I did it! That made me feel so motivated to garden even more! I'll always remember that

That is exactly what I want for my son. Both my parents and in-laws were big gardeners but never really included myself or my husband when we were growing up. I think I had a mini garden once from McDonald's, but I don't know if that really counts. :/ As we are intending to homeschool, I want to provide both of my children with experiences that are going to be beneficial in the real world.

As your son loves pumpkins - I have to say that I think that choosing to grow them would be an ideal start to his gardening years - especially as - he would most likely to very keen to grow them himself without too much encouragement - as he likes them so much and of course the ideal thing for a young child as pumpkins don't require much patience or care.

If you haven't yet tried it - making strawberry smoothies sometimes helps tempt the little ones into liking strawberries - as once they've got used to having fresh strawberries in the form of a drink - they soon move onto eating them whole - and especially so when helping to prepare the smoothie

I think we are defiantly going to start with the pumpkins. He loves going to the pumpkin patches in the fall and I think he would LOVE having them grow at home. We've tried strawberry smoothies, but he usually takes a sip or two and walks away. He is a VERY picky eater, but my husband and I are continuing to work at it. Eventually, he'll get there. (I hope).

 

[Southwood88]

Pumpkins are super fun to plant and watch. As the spring and summer progress, you can see your pumpkins get bigger and bigger and get excited for Halloween. Alternately, when pumpkins fail, our hopes for a pumpkin-filled Halloween drop as well. www.edenbrothers.com has a wide variety of pumpkin seeds, Ive grown Big Max and Cinderella before and had good results.

 

[LSJ-8]

Pumpkins are super fun to plant and watch. As the spring and summer progress, you can see your pumpkins get bigger and bigger and get excited for Halloween. Alternately, when pumpkins fail, our hopes for a pumpkin-filled Halloween drop as well. www.edenbrothers.com has a wide variety of pumpkin seeds, Ive grown Big Max and Cinderella before and had good results.

Thank you for the link and the tips. We'll have to do some seed shopping in the next few weeks. Hopefully my son's first attempt at growing things won't be too bad. (Although his father and I are poor gardeners).

 

[ACSAPA]

Children are impatient, so choose something that grows really fast If I were you, I'd let him plant a few different plants, it will make things more interesting. Here is what first came to my mind:
- radishes - they're easy to grow and very healthy
- sunflowers
- forget-me-nots
- herbs

I definitely agree with herbs because you don't have to wait for herbs to grow fruit. Herbs are ready to use almost as soon as they have leaves.

A fun an easy project for kids would be just regrowing vegetables from scraps. If you show your kid that cut scallions regrow in water or that the root end of a cut onion can grow more onions, it'll be interesting to them and almost instant gratification.

 

[LSJ-8]

I definitely agree with herbs because you don't have to wait for herbs to grow fruit. Herbs are ready to use almost as soon as they have leaves.

A fun an easy project for kids would be just regrowing vegetables from scraps. If you show your kid that cut scallions regrow in water or that the root end of a cut onion can grow more onions, it'll be interesting to them and almost instant gratification.

Do have any ideas for what a toddler/preschooler could do with herbs? He enjoys helping to cook mac & cheese, make jello, and cupcakes, but after that I'm out of "child friendly" cooking ideas that he'll consume. (He is a picky eater). I like the idea of regrowing from scraps. I've seen regrown onions and pineapples, so we'll have to give those I try.

Thank you for the suggestions. I am very excited, as some of these ideas we can start almost immediately.