Gardening Activities for Youth

Children reap many benefits from gardening. They learn about the lifecycle of plants, how to observe living things, and the importance of following directions. Children also see visible results from their efforts. A child caring for a garden, or even just one plant, is rewarded with beautiful flowers and delicious fruits or vegetables.

In addition, gardening is a healthy physical activity. Children of all ages can benefit from gardening. Here is a list of the general characteristics of children, the kinds of gardening activities they enjoy most often, potential problems they may encounter, and safety concerns.

One to Two-Year Olds

Toddlers are learning to walk and talk. They learn about the world through touch, smell, and sight. They may not be able to understand a lot of words, but they are ready to learn colors, names of plants, etc. An adult should be watching toddlers in the garden at all times.

Activities for Toddlers

1. Touch fuzzy leaves, for example: hairy leaves of an eggplant (beware of thorns where leaf joins stem) or lamb’s ear.
2. Pick (with help) bright colored flowers, beans, and peas.
3. Smell “sweet” scented flowers and leaves such as peppermint and pineapple sage.
4. Play with moving garden ornaments like plastic pinwheels.
5. Listen to wind chimes, birds, and insects.
6. Use a small plastic watering can to help water plants.
7. Hold earthworms.
8. Dig and scratch in the soil with plastic garden tools.

Potential Problems in the Garden

1. May walk on plants, pull them apart, etc.
2. May try to eat dirt, insects, worms, and poisonous plants.
3. May play with fertilizers and pesticides and mistake them for food, drink, or candy.
4. May try to grab bees or other stinging insects.

Three to Five-Year Olds

Preschoolers have a rapidly expanding vocabulary and are curious and inquisitive. Expect a lot of “why” questions! An adult should watch preschoolers in the garden at all times.

Activities for Preschoolers

1. Playing inside a bean teepee or tent. (A bean teepee is a framework of sticks or bamboo with pole beans trained to grow up them.)
2. With assistance, picking tomatoes, flowers, etc.
3. Watering plants and themselves.
4. Digging (use kid-sized tools), some weeding, and some planting.
5. Looking at and having parents read books to them about gardening.
6. Filling seedling trays with potting soil.
7. Sweeping walkways.

Potential Problems in the Garden

1. Difficulty handling small seeds and digging up useful plants.
2. Eating poisonous seeds.
3. Will try to "help" with fertilizers and pesticides.
4. May try to use “adult” tools.

Six to Nine-Year Olds

Gardening can provide elementary school children with opportunities to reinforce skills learned in school such as counting, sorting into categories, colors, etc. Children in this age group want to help (seeking adult approval) and may try to accomplish tasks or use tools/chemicals without supervision. Make sure the child understands what he/she may or may not do without your supervision and/or permission!

Activities for Elementary School Children

1. Looking through a seed catalogue and learning to grow one of his/her favorite fruits or vegetables.
2. Help to start seedlings and grow some seedlings on their own. (Marigolds and zinnias are very easy to grow from seed.)
3. Rake leaves with a light rake onto a tarp.
4. Help pick flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
5. Learn the names of flowers and trees by collecting leaves and pressing flowers.
6. Get to know a few garden critters and their lives, such as earthworms and ladybugs.
7. Make a compost pile. (Note: On a cool day, if the pile is right, it will give off steam when the center of the pile is exposed.)
8. Help spread grass seed.

Potential Problem in the Garden

1. Things don’t grow fast enough to keep the child’s interest. An adult helper may have to help with weeding and have the child rejoin the project for the harvest.

Nine to Twelve-Year Olds

Upper elementary and middle school children are very active. They especially like group activities that instill a sense of belonging. Children this age have rapidly changing interests and are always eager to try something new. They usually work best when tasks are laid out in small pieces, and often need guidance from adults to stay with a project. Even though these children seem quite capable of carrying out many gardening activities, they still need assistance and close supervision.

Activities for Older Children

1. Fill out a seed order form.
2. Help to select plants for the garden.
3. Join a 4-H Garden Club or Plant Science Club.
4. Grow plants for a fair or junior flower show.
5. Donate plants and produce to a homeless shelter.
6. Turn over a garden plot for the elderly.
7. Help design a garden.
8. Make crafts using materials from the garden.
9. Arrange flowers.
10. Add compost to the garden.

Potential Problem in the Garden

1. May want to use power tools.

Twelve-Year Olds and Older

Teens desire a sense of independence yet want and/or need adult help. They are self-conscious; may feel inferior and/or incapable and may view gardening as a hobby for adults. Teens are ready for in-depth, longer learning experiences and they want to get outside their community to explore. They want to have activities that include boys and girls, and they enjoy active games.

Activities for Teens

1. Landscape project.
2. Group vegetable garden.
3. Learn about lawn care.
4. Field trips to greenhouses, nurseries, arboretums, botanical gardens, etc.
5. Career exploration in the field of horticulture.

Potential Problem in the Garden

1. Teens may be uncooperative because they judge their knowledge and/or abilities as not as good as others. Some teens will also appear disinterested in the topic because they think they already know all about it.

Additional Resources

Books

Lovejoy, Sharon. Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots. 1999. Workman Publishing Company, New York City, New York. Describes how to grow a theme garden, such as a pizza garden or moth garden, with children. Also contains a list of the top 20 plants for children.

Ebinger, Elizabeth and Tuohy, Maggie. Recipes for a Successful School Garden: A Guide for Parents and Teachers Paperback, 2020. Describes how to plan, grow and sustain a school garden.

Matthew, Clare. Great Gardens for Kids. Hamlyn Press, London, England. 2002. Garden projects, such as building an arbor, that kids and adults can do together.

Richardson, Beth. Gardening with Children. Taunton Press, Newtown, Connecticut. 1998. A detailed description of how to grow a vegetable garden with children. Really focuses on horticulture techniques and how to do them with children.

Websites

National Gardening Association has curriculum and tutorials on learning how to garden.

Rutgers Cooperative Extension, has numerous technical publications on gardening and child development, as well as more information about how to join 4‑H.

Curriculum

Garden in the City - 60-page curriculum that presents 11 lessons on how to plant a vegetable garden with a group of children in 4^th grade and up. Cornell Cooperative Extension

For more information on how to join the Rutgers Cooperative Extension 4‑H Youth Development Program, please see the 4‑H website.

For information on becoming a Rutgers Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteer please visit their website.

For gardening information, please see the Rutgers Cooperative Extension website or call your county’s Rutgers Cooperative Extension Office.

June 2020