8 Fun Garden Activities for Kids to Learn and Explore

The ground is thawing and the birds are singing – it’s the perfect time of year to get your hands dirty and start a garden. Why not get your kids involved, too? There’s so much to learn in the garden – from seeds, to insects, to nature cycles and more.

Here are 8 kid-friendly ideas for learning and exploring in the garden:

1. Learn About the Seed Life Cycle

There’s no better time to explore the life cycle of plants and seeds than gardening season, when you can watch the process in real time. Bean seeds are perfect for this, because of how quickly the seedlings pop up and unfurl.

Have your kids pick out some bean varieties (bush or pole), and check back every day to see their progress. The seeds usually germinate in 5-10 days, and the seedlings grow visibly each day.

Watch a Bean Sprout in a CD Case

Remember CD cases? These can be great little viewers to watch the life cycle of a seed in real time. You can use any seed for this project, but beans tend to work the best.

You’ll need:

• An empty CD case (you can also use a plastic bag if you don’t have one)
• A damp paper towel
• Several bean seeds

Fold the paper towel to fit inside the bottom half of the CD case. Dampen the paper towel well. Place 2-4 seeds on top of the towel, toward the bottom. Gently shut the case, and place in a sunny windowsill. You can label it with the name of the seeds with permanent marker, if you wish.

Keep a close eye on the seeds each day, and look for roots emerging between days 3-5. Make sure the paper towel doesn’t dry out (gently open the case and spray with a bottle full of water every couple of days, or when needed). Watch as the roots continue to grow toward the bottom and shoots grow from the top. Soon you will have seedlings with leaves reaching toward the sunlight. If you want, gently transplant your seedlings in the garden.

Explore more about the life cycle of a seed with the Garden Notebook.

2. Plant a Child’s Garden

Let your children plan, design, and plant their own mini-gardens! We used large rectangular planting boxes for each of our kids. They each got to pick out what seeds they wanted to plant, draw a little garden map with what to plant where, and take charge of caring for their seeds.

If you don’t have a container, designate a small square of the garden plot just for them. You’ll be amazed at how invested they are in their plants when they get to take ownership of them. Peas, beans, carrots, cucumber, salad greens and herbs like basil, chives and mint are all great options for kids who are just starting out.

We used these planning and mapping pages from the Garden Notebook to get us started.

3. Dissect a Seed

A great, hands-on way to explore what’s inside a seed is to dissect one. Soaked bean seeds work well for this activity. Carefully slice them in half and you can talk about the parts with your kids. Depending on how long your seed soaked for, you might even see a little root forming already!

We like using these anatomy pages from The Garden Notebook for this activity.

4. Learn About Pollinators and the Pollination Cycle

Bees, butterflies and other insects play a huge role in the health of a garden. This is a great opportunity to learn about all the little critters that help pollinate the food we eat every day. As your garden grows, have your kids look for blossoms that will soon turn into seed pods (beans and peas) or fruit (tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, etc).

See if they can spot blossoms that have or have not yet been pollinated, and observe busy pollinators at work. Go on a scavenger hunt for pollinators in the garden (and use this FREE printable pollinator scavenger hunt!)

5. Make Homemade Pest Repellent Spray

Don’t let those garden pests get you down! Here’s a safe yet effective natural pest spray you can mix up with your children. Let them spray it on their plants when needed to deter pesky critters like slugs and aphids. The ideal time to spray is in the evening, after the sun has started to go down.

Ingredients

• 1 Onion
• 1 Head of garlic
• 1 Tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp dish soap
• 1 Quart water
• Spray bottle

Finely chop the onion and garlic (you may also use a food processor). Combine with cayenne and water in a pot and simmer for 45 minutes. Cool to room temperature and strain through a fine sieve or dish towel. Add this mixture plus the dish soap to an empty spray bottle and shake to combine.

6. Start Seeds in Eggshells

Start seeds indoors in the perfect little seedling containers – eggshells. Crack eggs near the top and remove the insides (save these for breakfast the next day!). Give them a rinse. Then, fill each eggshell with potting soil or starter mix. Sprinkle in your seeds, then dampen the soil with water. Place in a sunny windowsill and keep the soil moist until seedlings emerge.

When the seedlings develop their first true leaves, it’s time to transplant! Simply place the entire egg in the ground, crushing it slightly. The eggshells will break down in the soil over time, adding calcium which helps tomatoes and peppers.

7. Explore Helpful Insects

While there are no doubt plenty of creatures that wish to snack on your garden, some creatures are beneficial to gardeners. This is a great opportunity to explore helpful minibeasts like:

The Praying Mantis: Gentle with humans but ferocious to garden pests, they devour aphids and leaf hoppers. If you spot a mantis in your garden, let it be! You can also purchase mantis egg sacs to place in your garden if aphids are a problem. Baby mantises are possibly the cutest insects ever, and they are very effective at pest control!

Earthworms: Earthworms aren’t insects, but they’re essential for healthy gardens. By making tunnels through the dirt, they help aerate the soil, reduce soil compaction, and break down organic matter into nutrient-rich castings. Plants love soil rich in earthworms!

Garden Spiders: While spiders can be scary for some, they act as a “first line of defense,” protecting plants from damage from aphids, beetles, leafhoppers, grasshoppers, and more. A large quantity of spiders indicates a healthy garden.

Ladybugs: Probably the most well-known garden helper, ladybugs can be purchased by the hundreds from the garden center as natural pest control. There’s a lot to learn about these pretty little beetles. My kids love this ladybug nature study for learning about types of ladybugs and lady beetles, the ladybug life cycle, ladybug anatomy and more.

For more on garden helpers and pests, check out The Garden Notebook!

8. Keep a Garden Diary

Encourage your kids to keep a little journal or diary of their garden as it grows and changes. They can start with a list of seeds they planted, then encourage them to take notes or draw pictures of the changes they encounter each day.

This can include insects and animals that come visit their garden, weather conditions, pests, problems, etc. The more they observe and notice, the more invested they will likely be in the outcome.

We use these garden planning pages from The Garden Notebook.

Our Favorite Picture Books About Gardening

Up in the Garden, Down in the Dirt, by Kate Messner

We are the Gardeners, by Joanna Gaines

Plant the Tiny Seed, by Christie Matheson

From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons

Wiggling Worms at Work, by Wendy Pfeffer

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