It’s okay, in fact, it’s recommended kids get dirty!
The warm weather calls to your kiddo. If you’re looking for a fun-filled science-themed way to play outdoors, gardening with kids is educational, entertaining, and absolute awesomeness. Grab a trowel, select seeds, and check out these gardening projects for kids. We’ve got everything from a vegetable garden to ideas for small gardens and even an indoor herb garden—no green thumb or acres of yard space required.
Upcycled Garden Planters
These eco-friendly milk and juice container planters from Hands On As We Grow are pint-sized perfection. If space is a concern, your child can start their veggie garden in this upcycled option.
Make a Fairy Garden
Fairy gardens are ideal for small spaces and small hands, and you can even do an indoor garden using succulents and miniature houseplants if you don't have any outdoor space to plant or keep the pot.
And if you need some inspo, check out our favorites here.
Color Coding Gardening
Grow a mini rainbow in your yard! Choose veggies (or flowers) in hues ranging from red to blue—and everything in between. Plant rosy cherry tomatoes, orange peppers, yellow squash, cucumbers, eggplant and more.
Alphabet Outdoors
Create an A,B,C garden this spring. Choose veggies, flowers or a combo of both that start in each letter of the alphabet. Start at A and see if you can plant all the way to Z. Mark each pick with a letter sign or write an alphabetical list of your garden’s contents.
Takeout Garden
The folded paper or cardboard takeout container can do more than hold your leftovers. Follow these simple steps and help your kids to craft their own vegetable garden seedling starter indoors.
Avocado Awesomeness
Don’t throw your avocado pit into the trash. Even though the pit is the least appealing part of the avocado, you can use it to grow your own plant indoors. Simply wash and dry the pit, fill a jar with water, push three toothpicks into the thick end of the pit and place the picked pit into the water. Submerge the bottom inch or so of the pit, place the jar in a sunny spot and wait for your new avocado plant to grow.
Easy Peasy Trellis
Skip the frozen food section and grow your own peas with Garden Therapy’s trellis activity. Don’t worry if you’re short on space, this trellis is the perfect pick for a mini springtime or summer garden.
Indoor Herb Garden
Your kiddos want to plant an indoor herb garden—but you don’t have a container to use. That is, you don’t think you have a container to use. Stage a treasure hunt in your home and ask the kids to search for containers to use. Whether they scavenge yogurt containers, plastic bottles, or anything else that can hold soil and seeds, your family will be ready to plant their favorite herbs immediately indoors.
Indoor Greenhouse
Upcycle a takeout or rotisserie chicken container with this genius spring gardening idea from Read Between the Limes. Instead of starting your seedlings in small pots, repurpose the plastic carrier as a mini greenhouse. Along with a seedling starter, you can also transform your takeout container into an indoor herb garden.
Egg Heads
This egg-cellent idea from What I Live For is the perfect pairing of science and fun. Even though the how-to includes steps to grow grass, you could swap out these seeds for herbs or other small-sized veggie starters.
Pizza Planter
If there’s one universal crowd-pleasing dinner idea, it’s pizza. Let your little chefs grow their own supply of fresh herbs with a pizza planter. Nicky over at Little Family Adventure breaks down the easy steps you’ll need to follow to create your own. Click here to get the details.
