Gardening with kids: 3 family garden projects, activities you can do in winter
Q: Do you have suggestions for how to get my grandchildren interested in gardening? I’m blessed with three; the oldest is seven and the youngest is three. They all live in the city so they don’t have a lot of room to garden. Over the holidays I’m going for a long visit and would like to take supplies for some projects that will allow me to share my love of gardening with them.
A: What a wonderful lifelong gift to give to your grandchildren. A few years ago, Jennifer Jewell was speaking to our Master Gardener group, an audience of around 40 gardeners. She asked them how they became interested in gardening. Every gardener in the group mentioned some childhood memory where they were allowed to order seeds from a catalog, were gifted free seeds or they gardened alongside a parent, grandparent or other relative. In my case it was my mother allowing me to plant sweet peas in our garden when I was six; they are still my favorite flower today.
Gardening has been scientifically proven to have multiple health benefits. It’s good for both physical and mental health.
Dr. Nimali Fernando and Melanie Potock, in their article Gardening with Kids: How it Affects Your Child's Brain, Body and Soul, reference studies that show children who participate in gardening score higher in science achievement, have stronger immune systems and eat more vegetables then children not involved in gardening. Gardening can also promote responsibility, purpose and mindfulness as a child cares for the plants each day and makes sure they receive water, sunlight and needed nutrients.
Here are three simple ideas to get your grandkids started in gardening.
Sprout seeds in egg cartons
Try seed starting indoors with a cardboard egg carton.
Materials include cardboard egg cartons, seeds, potting soil and a plastic or metal tray on which to set the egg cartons.
At our Farmers Market booth during the spring, master gardeners build seed starting kits with egg cartons to give out to children. We have found that, for small children, larger seeds work best, such as peas, beans, sunflowers and squash. They can pick the big seeds up easier than tiny seeds.
Peas would be the best to plant this time of year, but any seed can be started this way.
When ready to transplant outdoors, the seedling and its section of the egg carton are planted in the soil together, without disturbing the roots.
Read a children's book about gardening
At our Farmers Market booth, we like to combine our garden kits with a plant- or garden-themed children’s book.
Adults and children can read together.
Make a lettuce bowl
A lettuce bowl is another fun project. To plant a lettuce bowl, you’ll need a color bowl ― a wide shallow pot, some potting soil and lettuce seed. Fill the color bowl with soil. Then have the kids make patterns in the soil and plant around 50 to 70 lettuce seeds that follow the pattern. If you put seeds in a toothbrush carrying case, the older kids can tap seeds out along the pattern they traced in the soil.
Loose leaf lettuce varieties work best for the bowl, and if you use both red and green leaf varieties they can make some really beautiful patterns.
Once the lettuce sprouts, kids can water and fertilize the bowls.
After about 30 to 40 days, the lettuce is ready to cut for salad greens. If you cut leaves above growing tips, it will regrow and can be cut several times for salads.
The Shasta Master Gardeners Program can be reached by phone at 530-242-2219 or email mastergardener@shastacollege.edu. The gardener office is staffed by volunteers trained by the University of California to answer gardeners' questions using information based on scientific research.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Gardening with kids: 3 family garden projects you can do now
