Gardening ideas to embrace the season with all the family

As the weather gets warmer (hopefully!) and we start looking for more activities to enjoy outside, National Children’s Gardening Week falls at the perfect time – Saturday 25^th May – 2^nd June. This May half-term, Garden Centres across the UK will be running their own initiatives and activities, encouraging little ones to get excited about plants, so find a local garden centre to visit near you and that’s the kids kept busy for at least one day this week!

Gardening is a fantastic way to encourage your little ones’ development and teaches them a variety of valuable life skills. Not only will your children be spending time outside in the fresh air, away from screens, but they’ll have the chance to learn about the different seasons and life cycles. Experience reading instructions and measuring is also sure to help them with their lessons at school.

Picking up some gardening tools and growing their own plants teaches children about responsibility and that hard work and dedication can reap gorgeous results in the long run. Plants don’t grow overnight; gardening can be a long process that requires commitment!

If you like the sound of a family gardening session and want to encourage your kids to catch the gardening bug, here are our top tips and advice:

• Kids Gardening Tools: Purchasing your kids their own child friendly gardening toolkit will not only ensure they are gardening safely but will help them to feel this is an activity for them that they can really get involved with.
• Grow your own kits: We would recommend getting started with a simple ‘grow your own kit’. You can get these for different things such as sunflowers or strawberries.  With easy-to-follow instructions and everything you need included, they’re a great starting point!
• Make it fun: Using colourful plant pots and letting your kids decorate these and their tools with their favourite stickers will help keep them engaged.
• Grow veggies: Growing some tasty vegetables is an easy way for kids to enjoy and understand the fruits of their labour – lettuce and radishes are both easy to grow and don’t take long!