Gardening with toddlers is often chaotic but always memorable (and always worth it). I have loved every minute gardening with my kids and I am already looking forward to the next growing season!
This post is all about the benefits of gardening with kids, the best toddler gardening tools, a list of durable and easy plants to try first, and our best tips to enjoy gardening with toddlers.
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What are the benefits of gardening with children?
Gardening with kids has way more benefits than simply having yummy fruits and veggies at your finger tips. It’s highly beneficial for your kids’ sensory development, allows them to feel capable of trying new things, teaches them hands-on math and science skills, and even makes them more likely to try new foods. You’ll be surprised just how many foods your kids will taste in the garden that they wouldn’t at the table.
What are the best plants for gardening with toddlers?
The best plants for toddlers are ones that are durable to yanking, digging, and overwatering. You’ll also want to consider what plants are the easiest to harvest and the yummiest to snack on while you garden. There are plenty of foods that kids won’t eat at the table but they will eat in the garden, so poppable foods are a must to help them try new fruits and veggies.
One of the best ways to decide what you will plant in your garden is to talk to people at your local farmers market or garden center. They can help direct you to plants that are not only best for gardening with kids but best for your local area as well. However, in the mean time, here is a list of a few durable, easy to harvest, yummy to eat in the garden plants to consider.
Best Plants for Gardening with Toddlers:
- Leafy greens like lettuce and spinach- Give fast results and are low maintenance
- Herbs like basil, mint, parsley, and cilantro- Can be harvested all summer long and are fun for kids to explore all their different smells
- Carrots- Easy and super exciting to harvest!
- Snap peas & snow peas- Easy to pick and yummy to crunch on in the garden.
- Cherry tomatoes- Are easy to pick and toddler sized too!
- Bush beans- Low for little toddlers to pick.
- Zucchini and squash- Insanely forgiving if you are new to gardening.
- Strawberries- Can be harvested over and over again and are the perfect treat to motivate toddlers to help in the garden!
What About a Sensory Garden Plant List?
If you are looking for something to reach more of your toddlers senses, consider adding fun smelling flowers, rustling ornamental grasses, beautifully smelling plants like rosemary and lemon balm, and soft plants like lamb’s ear to engage all of their senses. Below are a few more ideas.
Sensory Garden Plant List:
- Touch: dusty miller, sedum, sunflowers
- Smell: mint, lavender, lemon balm, basil, rosemary, chamomile
- Sight: marigolds, rainbow chard, purple basil, zinnias
- Sound: ornamental grasses, bamboo, corn
However, if you plan to add other types of plants that aren’t edible, you must make it very clear which plants are edible and which are not. You can do this by clearly labeling plants that your kids are allowed to eat with a check or “x” on the plant label or by teaching your kids to only eat something that a grown up has given them permission to eat.
9 Tips for Gardening with Toddlers
Get them tools their size
Finding toddler gardening tools just their size is crucial to helping your children feel capable and excited about gardening with you. If they are trying to pick up a full size watering can or wearing gloves three times too big, they are going to get frustrated quickly. So, spend the extra money and grab them a few tools of their own. I recommend purchasing the following:
- A toddler sized watering can– We have this exact one!
- Toddler sized gardening gloves
- A small garden basket that they can use to carry their harvest inside
- A few small gardening shovels & rakes
Get them involved in the planning
Our kids helped us make the list of things to plant in our garden and we gave each of them the same grid we were using to plan out where to put things in our garden. They absolutely loved sketching out where they wanted to put everything and giving us input on what they wanted to plant. They were so proud that their drawings stayed on the fridge until the following spring.
Grow things they’ll enjoy too
A large part of getting your toddlers involved in the planning is letting them be a part of deciding what to plant. They will get excited to plant, water, and weed when they are growing some of their favorite foods. So, be intentional to plant fruits and veggies they love and let that be the driving force behind helping.
Use raised garden beds if at all possible
When you first start gardening with your kids, I recommend you either start in containers or start with a raised bed or two. Otherwise, you may open yourself up to your kids accidentally walking all over the plants.
Leave room for mistakes
Toddlers are still learning…. well everything. They are learning how to control their emotions. They are learning how to cope. They are learning social skills. They are learning motor skills. And on top of that, they are now learning how to garden. So, be patient and give grace when mistakes are made. Allow the mistakes to make memories.
Plus, the purpose of gardening is to learn and grow alongside your new beautiful garden. So give space for growth to happen.
Find jobs they can do well
Finding things that your kids can help with will allow them to feel capable. Feeling capable will bring them to enjoy gardening and want to keep learning.
Help them water so stuff doesn’t get killed
While watering may seem like a good job to start with for toddlers, you’ll want to make sure to water alongside them. Teach them how to water correctly and slowly let them do it independently. Toddlers will tend to overwater so raised beds are often best to help with drainage while they are still learning.
Use fun colorful plant labels
If your kids can’t read yet, create your own or purchase these plant labels with pictures instead. This way, your kids can help label and also work in the garden more confidently. Having labels that they can actually understand will let them feel capable in the garden vs. being surrounded by words that they need help reading.
Start small at first
Don’t go and build a full sized greenhouse your first year of gardening. Trust me. I did three raised beds in our very first garden and even that felt overwhelming for our first year! I’d recommend starting with one raised garden bed or even with a few containers.
This post was all about how to start gardening with toddlers and making memories while you do it. I hope this post helps you both enjoy gardening together from the very start.
-Beautifully Busy Mom
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Meet the Author
Hi, I’m Monica! I’m a former teacher turned stay at home mom of three! I started this blog after feeling very lonely at the beginning of my motherhood journey. My goal is that no other moms would feel the way that I felt. So, this blog is filled with free resources, fun activities, and answers to the not so easy questions. That way, you can enjoy the beautiful chaos that is motherhood. Let’s be friends 🙂
