When I was small, one of the best presents I can remember receiving was a miniature gardening set from my Mum and Dad. The set had a bright yellow plastic rake with a wooden handle, a beautiful green fork and best of all, a bright blue watering can decorated with pretty flowers.
I'd have to say the watering can was my absolute favourite! I'd follow my Father around as he tended to the garden, watering everything in sight. My Dad even helped me make a little garden of my very own, and on special occasions like birthdays, I'd plant something new and wait impatiently for it to grow.
I planted pansies once and when they flowered, picked a delightful little bunch and gave it to my Granny who gave me a great big hug!
It's funny how we remember the little things isn't it?
Children love joining parents in everyday activities and gardening is the perfect pastime to teach children about growing things and protecting plants from harm until they grow big and strong.
We live next to a school and I'm sorry to say there are children there who like nothing better than breaking branches and pushing small trees over at lunchtime. It's obvious these children have never had the thrill of growing small plants and harvesting flowers, fruit and vegetables.
A really good place to start with a small garden is growing strawberries. There's something quite like picking a big juicy strawberry that you've grown yourself. It still gives me a thrill!
Here's what to do:
Help your toddler or preschooler prepare a well-drained garden bed or strawberry pot with holes using a good quality soil that contains plenty of compost and animal manure. Do make sure you wear a mask when using these materials, especially if you decide to buy bags of material from the nursery.
Make your visit to the nursery a real adventure and take time wandering through the rows of plants to find the strawberry runners. A punnet or two is all you'll need because if the garden is too big, the child will find it hard to look after and lose interest.
Once home, plant the runners about 16inches apart and carefully place straw round the plants to keep the strawberries off the ground. There's nothing worse than dirty, gritty strawberries!
Every afternoon, make it a special treat to visit the garden bed and inspect progress. Keep an eye out for pests and weeds. And make sure visitors are shown the garden bed or pot as children love explaining what they're doing to make things grow.
Turning your toddler or preschooler into an environmental expert
Nature and children go together like rain and rainbows. There's nothing quite like wondering through a forest with an ever-curious child, looking at the leaf litter and seeing the tiny creatures living there.
Boys love worms and crickets the best, while girls like butterflies and flowers. You can explain how nature recycles leaves and fallen trees to make food for the forest soil and that you can show them how to do the same thing at home for the garden.
You'll need a kitchen scrap bin, a compost bin, some soil, and animal manure. Collect all vegetable and fruit peelings, green leaves, apple cores, and torn newspaper but definitely no meat products. Make your child responsible for emptying the kitchen scrap bin every second day or so into the compost bin.
Build the compost in layers by adding soil every few weeks to which horse, cow or chicken manure has been added and keep moist. We have a tumbler compost bin that is excellent for turning the material and produces compost in no time!
Once the material has rotted down, you'll have a wonderful supply of rich fertiliser to use on the garden. What a lovely way to teach your toddler or preschooler about nature looking after the environment.
And don't forget the scarecrow for the garden!
Your toddler or preschooler will enjoy the thought of making a little person to guard their garden.
You'll need some old clothes, a hat and shoes your toddler doesn't need anymore. Use a pair of old tights to make the head by stuffing the top part with rags. Let your child use a permanent pen to add the eyes and mouth. Glue can be used to add a big button for the nose.
Stuff the clothes with straw or old rags and mould into shape. Sew everything together with stout string. Once made, tie the figure to a strong garden stake. Add a crossbar to hold the arms out if needed.
Carolyn Morgan is a Mother of two and Grandmother of one (so far). As a practicing artist, Carolyn was determined to keep her little Grandchild amused without resorting to buying expensive toys. After much research, she found a number of activities and decided to build a website for parents and out-of-practice Grannies like her. You can see what she found at http://www.busytoddlers.com.
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