Garden activities for kids
Garden activities for kids
Garden activities provide a whole range of health, learning and development benefits for kids, as well as being good fun!
Painting stones and pots
This is a great one for kids of all ages (and for the adults too!). If you use outdoor paint, the colourful creations can be displayed outdoors all year round. Pinterest is a great source of inspiration for designs to create! Painted pots and stones can also be used to create fairy and dinosaur houses and gardens!
Chalk paths and games
If you have tarmac or paving stones around your home, chalk can be used to draw paths or games such as the classic ‘Hopscotch’. Chalk can also be used to help with learning, for example by drawing times tables or the alphabet to jump along. Just prepare you’re little ones that the creations won’t be there forever though, as the rain will wash them away!
Mud kitchens and water play
Warning: this one can be messy! With the good weather, now is the perfect time to create a ‘Mud Kitchen’. A few bricks, plank of wood and an old basin with water, along with some old pots, pans and utensils makes a great mud kitchen, and a great base for experimenting with mud pies! Basins or paddling pools can also make for some great water play. Old kitchen utensils, along with some of the recycling containers make for great water vessels of all shapes and sizes!
Make a time capsule
Making a time capsule is a great one for all the family. Take time to write a letter, include newspaper clippings, photographs and keepsakes for someone to dig up in years to come of what life was like during these unprecedented times.
Plan a picnic
Children of all ages enjoy the novelty of eating outside. Younger children can bring their teddies outside and have a teddy bears picnic, older kids may enjoy the independence of making and packing their own lunch to enjoy with some music!
Garden photography
This one is good for the older kids. Taking pictures of plants, flowers, trees and even some of the wildlife e.g. snails, slugs, birds, butterflies, found in the garden is a great project. Photographs can even be printed at a later stage.
Grow to eat
Strawberries, peas and runner beans are just a few plants that will be ready to eat in a few weeks if planted as young plants, as well as many garden herbs. This is a great way to get the kids involved in the garden and also teaching them how to grow and look after their own plants, as well as learning where different foods come from!
