Gardening With Kids: Simple Lessons We’ve Learned Growing Food Together

For about five years now, gardening with my kids has been something we do together each season.

And I want to start by saying: I am not an expert gardener.

I’m still learning. Every single season.

Some things grow beautifully. Some things never come up at all. We’ve battled bugs, weeds, unpredictable weather, forgotten watering days, and plants that looked so promising one week and were completely gone the next.

But really, that has become part of what I love most about gardening with kids.

It has never been about having a perfect garden.

It’s about learning together.

There is something so sweet about putting a tiny seed into the dirt with your child and then checking on it over and over again. At first, nothing happens.

And then one morning, there it is — the tiniest green sprout pushing through the soil.

The kids get so excited.

And so do I.

We talk about what the seed needs, why we water it, and why plants need sunshine. We wonder why one plant is thriving while another one isn’t. We notice bugs and try to figure out whether they’re helping our garden or eating it. We pull weeds together and laugh about how they somehow seem to grow faster than everything else.

Sometimes we have to troubleshoot.

Sometimes we have absolutely no idea what went wrong.

And sometimes we finally get to walk outside, pick something we grew ourselves, wash it off, and taste it.

That is my favorite part.

There is a completely different excitement around eating a tomato, herb, cucumber, carrot, or other vegetable when your child remembers putting that seed or tiny plant into the ground months earlier.

They watched it grow.

They helped take care of it.

And now they get to eat it.

Gardening Gives Kids a Front-Row Seat to How Food Grows

One of my favorite benefits of gardening with kids is that it teaches them where food actually comes from.

We talk a lot in our home about food and where it comes from, but growing a garden makes those conversations tangible.

A seed becomes a sprout.

A sprout becomes a plant.

Flowers appear.

And then, somehow, there is food growing right in front of them.

Kids get to see that food doesn’t simply appear on a grocery store shelf.

Even growing a small amount of our own food has given us so many natural opportunities to talk about soil, insects, weather, seasons, patience, and what it means to care for something over time.

Because we homeschool, I especially love how easily gardening can become part of homeschool learning without needing to turn it into a formal lesson.

Science is happening right in front of them.

They can watch seeds germinate, observe insects, learn about pollination, notice changing weather, and see the life cycle of a plant unfold right outside the door.

And most of the time, they don’t even realize they’re learning.

Gardening Teaches Kids Patience

Gardening moves slowly.

You plant something today, but you usually don’t get the reward tomorrow.

Kids have to wait.

They water.

They check.

They wait some more.

Then one day, a sprout appears.

Later, there might be a flower.

Eventually, if everything goes well, there is something they can actually pick and eat.

In a world where so much happens instantly, I love that gardening gives children an opportunity to practice patience in such a natural way. It actually helps teach me patience too, haha.

They get to experience the excitement of waiting for something they have cared for.

Kids Learn That Failure Is Part of the Process

We have had plenty of garden failures.

Seeds that never sprouted.

Plants that were eaten by bugs.

Vegetables we planted at the wrong time.

Weeds that completely took over.

Plants we forgot about.

And plenty of moments when I’ve had to say, “I actually don’t know. Let’s figure it out.”

I think that might be one of the most valuable parts of gardening with children.

They get to watch me learn too.

I don’t have to have every answer before we begin something.

We can notice a problem, talk through it, research it, try something different, and see what happens.

Sometimes we fix it.

Sometimes we don’t.

Then we try again next season.

Gardening gives kids such a simple, tangible way to learn that something not working the first time doesn’t mean you stop trying.

I once forgot we planted a pumpkin, when it grew we thought it was a weird green squash. I threw it over the fence, and a month later, we realized it was a squished orange pumpking. I was so sad about my mistake! However, we all learned, we won’t ever make that pumpkin mistake again! 🙂

Let Kids Actually Help in the Garden

If you garden with kids, it will probably be messier and slower than doing it yourself.

Let them dig anyway.

Let them drop three seeds into a hole that only needed one.

Let them water the same plant for way too long.

Give them a little shovel and let them get dirty.

Over the years, my kids have helped me dig, plant, water, pull weeds, and pick what we’ve grown. Even the littlest ones can usually be included somehow.

There are definitely moments when it would be easier to finish the job myself, but I try to remember that the experience is part of the point.

I’m not just trying to grow vegetables.

I’m raising kids who are curious about the world around them, who understand a little more about where their food comes from, and who know that they’re capable of learning something new.

Gardening Can Help Kids Get Excited About Eating Fresh Food

There is something special about watching a child eat something they grew themselves.

A cucumber from the backyard suddenly becomes much more exciting than a cucumber that appeared on their dinner plate.

They remember planting it. They watched it grow. They picked it themselves.

That connection can make trying fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs feel more exciting and less like something they are simply being asked to eat.

I love giving my kids that connection to their food.

How to Start Gardening With Kids

You absolutely do not need a huge backyard garden to do this.

A raised garden bed, a few pots on a patio, or even a couple of herbs growing outside your kitchen can give children the experience of planting something and watching it grow.

If you’re just beginning, keep it simple.

Choose a few things your family actually enjoys eating. Let the kids help decide what to grow. Pick plants that work well for your climate and season, and plant them together.

Then see what happens.

You do not need to know everything before you begin.

I absolutely didn’t! And five years later, I’m still learning right alongside my kids.

The Sweetest Part of Gardening With Kids

Our garden has never been perfect.

But the lessons have been incredibly sweet.

Gardening with my kids has given us time outside together, conversations about food and nature, opportunities to problem-solve, and so many little moments of wonder.

There is something magical about watching a child discover the first tiny sprout.

Or spotting the first tomato.

Or running inside excitedly with something they just picked.

Those are the parts I hope they remember.

Because there is so much wonder tucked into something as simple as a seed, a little dirt, some sunshine, and a child waiting patiently for something to grow.

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