May 25, 2021

Fun DIY Garden ideas that the children will love

National Children’s Gardening Week starts on the 29^th May and celebrates the fun that gardens hold for kids and how they can embrace nature.

In this increasingly technological world, children are spending more time inside. The aim of the week is to encourage both children and adults to take a journey into the great outdoors and discover the wildlife around them.

Through gardening we can teach our children many things; how eco-systems work, the importance of respecting nature and the complete joy of getting our hands dirty and simply growing their own flowers and food.

Read our handy guide which gives great gardening ideas you can easily do at home.

Ideas the children will love….

Seed Paper

This is a really easy activity to do with children, and once completed you can plant outside in a container and watch your seed paper grow into beautiful, blooming plants.

You will need:

Some old pieces of paper
Seeds of your favourite flowers
Hand blender
Shallow container
2 splatter guards

Tear your paper into small pieces and soak in hot water for 10-15 minutes, before mixing with the blender.

Then add your seeds and pour your pulp mixture into a shallow container, before spreading evenly covering one splatter guard. Place the second guard on top and squeeze to drain excess water out.

Get creative by cutting your seed paper into different shapes and then plant!

Shoebox Seed Case

Have lots of seed packets but nowhere to keep them? Then why not upcycle a shoe box to make your very own seed case.

You will need:

2 cardboard shoeboxes
Scissors
Glue

Cut up one of the shoeboxes to make one divider that goes lengthwise along your other shoebox. Leave extra tabs at the end so it can be folded over and glued it to the centre of your seed box, place in the middle of your showbox so it divides the box in half. Then cut notches at equal intervals in your divider.

Use the remaining cardboard from your shoebox, create cross tabs the width of your box for your dividers, make sure they also have notches so they interlock and insert into the seed box.

After all the tabs are fitted together, and glued at the ends to the box, use the width dividers for your labels and add your seed packets!

Building bricks planter

Are they any children that don’t like building bricks? This is a colourful way to make a planter to showcase your plants.

You will need:

Toy building bricks
Potting compost
Mini succulents

Decide what size you need for your toy planters depending on the size of your plants. Build your planter with the bricks on your base.

Remove your succulent from the plastic pot that you bought it in. Add the potting compost to your newly built planter. Place the plant in the planter and add additional soil to fill in any gaps. Water well and place on your windowsill!

Butterfly feeder

A butterfly feeder is also a very simple activity that kids will love that will help attract these beautiful insects to your garden.

You will need:

Plant saucer
String or wool
A metal ring
Ripe fruit – bananas are ideal

Punch some holes in the rim of your plant saucer and thread the string through. You can decorate your saucer by painting bright designs. Then tie all the strands around the ring to form a hanger. For our butterfly food, cut up some overripe fruit such as bananas to attract the butterflies. Hang your garden from a tree and wait for the butterflies to come.

Plant a sunflower

Sunflowers are the ideal bloom to plant for children. Once started they grow very quickly and children love to measure them every couple of days to chart their progress as they grow and brings out the competitive spirit in them. Sunflowers are also a favourite of bees and so make an important addition to a garden for pollinating insects.

Start your seeds off in the late spring after the last frosts. They’re hardy plants which means they can be planted straight outdoors, either in the ground or in a pot.

Fill your pots with compost and plant two or three seeds in each pot. Cover with a little extra compost and water them. It takes from at least 10 weeks to grow a sunflower from planting the seed to the flower opening. See who can grow the tallest sunflower and award with a prize.