We love watching our garden grow each summer, and we can’t wait to start snacking. Which is the whole reason we garden when we think about it. I love having our kids in the garden with me, gardening is teaching them more about life, about the science of how the food grows and why we want worms and bumblebees. They learn more from doing in the garden than a science book is going to tell them about the process.
Kids in the Kitchen – Gardening with your Kids
*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*
Remember this: Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn. – Benjamin Franklin
As much as kids like to snack, providing an (almost) all you can eat veggie buffet is the best way to get them having healthy snacks, and trying new fruits and veggies.
Making a salad from fresh garden vegetables is great way to show how tasty vegetables are, to practice cutting with knives, as well as the growing of food.
Introducing Growing Food
The first thing you can do, is to let your kids pick out something to grow themselves. Of course this is going to come after you have decided whether you are having your garden in the ground, raised beds, or even container gardening. The one thing my oldest always picks is cauliflower. She loves it.
Try to let them grow it themselves. From the planting to wetting, to the harvest. And the cooking which is what this series is all about. In the case of cauliflower, they need to cut it, and then decide what they are going to do with it. Are they cutting it up for veggies and dip, or to steam, or maybe for making a pizza crust?
We have grown a pizza garden in containers around our patio. It was amazing to walk out the front door to fresh herbs and tomatoes growing and waiting to be used in pizza. Growing herbs in something your children can grow throughout the year on a window sill too.
If you don’t have the space for a garden, or maybe you don’t want to or can’t grow vegetables for whatever reason, another great way to garden with your kids is to grow flowers. Growing flowers that bumblebees love to help them out, teach your kids about the importance of bumblebees and their place in growing food.
You can find more posts about gardening with your kids all over Forgetful Momma. It’s something we love to do!
Gardening Books for Gardening with Kids | Soil Testing Garden Science
How Your Garden Grows – Berenstain Bears Grow-It! | Garden Stakes Arts and Crafts
Fun Herbs for Kids to Grow | Growing a Bee Garden and Why Your Want One
Mini Greenhouse Gardening with Kids | Introducing Gardening in Our Homeschool
