Gardening with Kids: Start Simple – and Embrace the Mess

In my early adult years, it was a joke amongst my family that I had anything but a green thumb. In fact, my aunt would gift me a pot of lavender with the line: “Don’t worry, you can’t kill it.” But inevitably, it wound up dead in my yard one month later.

About six years ago, I became a mother. And now, three kids later, I have found the start of a new hobby for something that I once never expected: gardening.

It started as a teaching tool for my young children. I wanted them to find joy in caring for something that they could watch grow. I often laugh that my kids and I are all learning together on this one.

This past winter was a chilly one for Tulsa. With several snowstorms in the city that caused schools and businesses to close, we had above-average snowfall totals for the months of both January and February, according to records from the National Weather Service.

But now with April upon us, the threat of freezing temperatures is less likely, making it the perfect time to start pulling out those gardening gloves with the kids and getting messy!

Introducing Kids to Gardening

“The point of introducing kids to gardening isn’t to make them gardeners but rather to expose them to how the food we eat is grown,” said Paul James with Southwood Garden and Nursery. “Getting kids interested in gardening is really quite simple, just think like a kid!”

James says for any adult looking to expose their children to gardening, just start off simple. It doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate, and it definitely doesn’t need to be neat or orderly. In fact, he suggests it will likely be quite the opposite!

So where do you start?

“Growing veggies from a seed is a real eye opener for kids,” James said. “Especially those that germinate quickly such as beans, cucumbers, potato or even watermelon.”

These projects don’t necessarily require a lot of supplies. You can start with supplies as simple as an empty egg carton, potting soil and some seeds.

“One of the easiest ways to start with kids is to fill an empty egg carton with potting mix and plant a seed or two in each cell,” James said. “Keep the mix moist and place the carton in a spot in your house that gets a lot of light.”

A Learning Opportunity

This is also a good opportunity to teach kids that plants need three things to survive: water, sunshine and air. The sunshine is being converted to energy, and when mixed with water from either a watering can or rain, plus air that plants breathe like humans, these three ingredients are converted into food for plants by a process called photosynthesis, which helps them grow.

Planting seeds in egg cartons at home is a great way to explain to your kids the science lesson of growth. But for those who want to take it one step further, you can head outside to your flower bed or pots, if you live somewhere without a yard.

This year our family decided to go with a few easy ones. I had my daughter pick out a few perennials for the flower bed. For a little girl, flowers are sometimes more exciting from day one.

And then I always love to have herbs – rosemary, mint, basil and thyme. Not only are they fun to grow, but it also saves money!

And finally, this year we are tackling the cherry tomato plant. Like James suggested, teaching kids that food starts as a seed and finishes out as something we can eat can be quite rewarding.

Happy gardening!

Kirsten Lang has been a meteorologist in Tulsa for nearly a decade. She is a mother of three and a STEAM enthusiast, working as an outreach coordinator for a local non-profit to get more science resources and funding into Oklahoma’s public schools.