What started with some weeding has turned into a daily activity with my toddlers.
Miss Harper 18 months has just caught the bug. After watching Fletcher and I walk around the garden watering the numerous garden beds and potted plants on a daily basis the fights started over Fletcher’s beloved duckie watering can. We resolved this with a quick trip to purchase Harper her own pink watering can.
If you are not into gardening you can still give this a go by purchasing some potted plants and a small watering can. Otherwise if you are interested too, let your whole yard be your canvas.
Here are some suggestions to make gardening at home, fun for you and your toddler:
Toddler Equipment
Invest in a watering can and possibly gloves for you and your child. Try Bunnings, cheap stores or Kmart for supplies. Having their own equipment seems to add to their lasting interest in an activity.
Flowers and Edibles
When choosing your plants try things like tomatoes and strawberries. Being able to watch these grow and develop and eventually pick and eat has captivated Fletcher for about 1.5 years so far.
Anything with flowers are a good choice too. Again something you can watch evolve with your toddler.
Give seeds a try
I did give the Woolworth’s Little Garden seeds a go and failed dismally. If you did too, don’t be discouraged.
I recently attempted some flower seeds. I chose seeds that you could pretty much grow all year round in SE Queensland and instructions basically involved scattering the seeds in soil. The picture on the right is our progress so far. We are checking on their progress daily as we water our plants.
Keep tasks simple and quick
Like most things with toddlers don’t plan long and involved gardening activities with your toddler. If you do, they will loose interest. For example don’t plan to plant an entire garden bed in one sitting, spread it over a number of days.
You will loose some
It is a constant thing to stop the toddlers from picking the flowers and fruit and vegetables before they are ready. They are excited and often don’t want to wait. All you can do is keep educating them on the process and hopefully we will get there in the end. At least they are eating some fruit and vege!
New outings to discover
If gardening is an interest it opens up a whole new option for some outings. Coming soon to F.T.F.T are some fantastic local nurseries to visit. Watch this space.
Have you tried gardening with your toddler? Share your experience in the comments below.
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