With the sun showing its face more and more over the last month or so, we’re all looking forward to spending more time outside in our gardens.
However, keeping kids entertained can be a challenging task in itself, so here are a few fun activities you can do together to engage them in your gardening tasks!
Recycled Plant Pots
You could create and decorate all sorts of different plant pots out of recycled household waste. Anything can be used, like loo rolls, egg boxes, plastic bottles, milk cartons, and even welly boots!
Kids can spend time making and then planting them up with all sorts of outdoor or indoor plants.
Creating a recycled garden also helps your kids see how the disposable items they use every day can have a second life!
Homemade Bug Hotels
For kids that have an interest in creepy crawlies, you could build a bug hotel out of recycled materials/furniture to install in a sheltered spot in your garden.
To make one, you’ll need a sturdy base, this could be anything like a wooden box, a plant pot, a shelf or drawer, or even something as simple as a plastic bottle cut in half.
You’ll then need to fill it with natural materials like dry leaves, straw, twigs/bark, string, newspaper, cardboard and pinecones, which could also be turned into a fun scavenging hunt.
All that’s left to do is leave it in a level, sheltered area and check in later to see what critters have moved in!
Cotton Underwear Experiment
Here’s a silly one – you could do an experiment for testing whether your soil is healthy or not by burying an old pair of cotton pants!
After a few weeks, dig them up and if they’re full of holes then there’s lots of life thriving in the soil and healthy for plants.
Not only does it get your kids learning about the creatures living in their garden, but it also tests the nutrients of your soil for future planting!
Building a Fairy Garden
To add some magic to your garden, you can build a fairy garden within a plant bed or pot.
Choose some old toys, pebbles, lollypop sticks and any other additions that can be made into tiny garden features – you can get as creative as you want!
Then, spend some time arranging and burying the items to create a small home for the fairies outside.
Nature Artwork
On a walk or in your own garden, ask your kids to explore and collect whatever leaves and flower petals they can find.
The leaves can then be used to make rubbing artwork at home, or tree bark rubbings can be done along the way. To do this, lay a piece of paper on top of the leaf/bark you are trying to capture, and then lightly rub a pencil or crayon across the paper to reveal the markings below!
To create art from the petals and leaves (after the rubbings), they must first be dried under a press, which can take a couple of days to a few weeks, depending on the plant. Once dried, they can be used in collages for cards or pictures to hang up or gift people throughout the year.
