Growing Plants with Kids Can Be Fun!
Are your kids spending more times on screens indoors rather than enjoying nature outdoors?
Do you want your children to step outside more often?
If yes, then planting activities for kids is the best and fun-loving way to keep them busy outside.
Gardening can be a great way to instill a love for mother nature in them after all,
“Teaching children about the natural world is one of the most important events of their life,” so let nature be their teacher.
But how to encourage them to love gardening? For this, you can consider growing things together. Growing plants with kids is an outdoor activity that will spark an interest for gardening.
You can start by researching the edible plants and vegetables that are kids-friendly and require minimal care. Once those plants grow and you get their produce, your kids will be happy to see their rewards and their first-ever gardening experience will be memorable throughout life.
So you must be wondering about the best plants for kids to grow. Well, here you go.
What are Some Easy Plants for Kids to Grow?
To help you get started, we bring you the 4 best plants for kids that are easy to grow. These suggestions are selected based on factors such as ease of growing, safety and taste:
1. Cherry Tomatoes:
Cherry tomatoes are the easiest plant kids can grow. The produce of cherry tomatoes is so much that you’ll have a steady crop of fruits throughout the season in your garden.
The best time to grow them is usually in spring or early summer. You can start by grabbing a pot and some cherry tomato seedlings. They need ample amount of sunshine and water so ensure that the chosen tomato patch spot is getting adequate sunshine.
What’s next? Wait for the tomatoes to ripen and your kids will love picking them. After biting into a plump ripe tomato, the happiness of the juicy rewards on your child’s face will be priceless.
2. Lettuces:
Lettuce is the most widely planted salad vegetable in the outdoor garden and is popularly known as one of the “care-free” crops. Kids love them as it’s super easy to plant from seedlings and grows quickly.
Rich in both taste and vitamin A content, lettuce is a cool-season crop and should be planted during spring and fall. Pick the spot that receives full sun and where the soil drains well, yet retains some looseness. It is advisable to plant a small number of seeds at a time as it grows quickly. The watering to lettuce should be kept minimal as the main focus will be to keep the soil moist. Be careful not to overwater as it will destroy the crop.
Your kids will love growing and picking them as it’s more fun. Not only this, but they’ll enjoy eating lettuce as salad leaves and this way, their love for gardening and eating homegrown vegetables will increase.
3. Pumpkins:
Pumpkins are super fun to grow and kids will enjoy every step of planting them as they come in various sizes and colors from pale whites to bright orange. They are one of the most versatile crops to grow with children as you eat them, decorate them, carve them to make your own Halloween jack-o’-lantern or bake a pie.
To begin with, let your child place the seeds in the bowl and cover them with water. Let the seeds get soaked overnight and then plant the pumpkin seeds in the soil mounds, in a bright sunny spot. Water it frequently until the seeds begin to sprout.
All varieties of pumpkins take about 90-120 days to mature after planting the seeds. When planted with proper timing, pumpkins can be harvested by Halloween season and kids will enjoy carving their own jack-o’-lantern.
4. Carrots:
Growing carrots can be a great learning experience for kids and healthy addition to your vegetable garden. Carrots directly grow from seeds and are sown deeply in the garden soil. As planting carrots require deep soil digging, your children will love this activity.
Carrots are planted in cold temperatures and take about a month to mature. While growing them, ensure that the chosen sunny area with loose soil is free of rocks so that carrots get enough space to grow.
Kids will also enjoy the mystery in planting carrots as when the carrots will be ready for harvest, they will be hidden underground and only their leaves will be visible. Not only this, but it will be great fun in pulling the brightly colored carrot root from the ground.
With little maintenance, growing carrots with kids will be a satisfying experience after tasting the homegrown, fresh and healthy carrots.
Planting activities for kids can be a life learning experience for them as they will get more inclined towards eating the homegrown healthy foods and will tend to enjoy the outdoor gardening activities to the fullest.
So choose the best and easy to grow plants for kids to keep them motivated in the garden.
