Kids love to garden and play in the dirt. There are so many wonderful gardening kits and child-sized garden tools that they feel right at home in the garden with Mom and Dad. Here are 10 gardening gifts that you can enjoy along with your kids.
1. Mini Windowsill Garden
The hard part about getting kids interested in gardening is the long wait between planting and actually seeing something grow. This windowsill kit comes with fast sprouting wheat grass seeds that literally sprout within days. But better still, the pots and hand tools need to be painted and personalized first, so they get immediate gratification and a long term reward.
2. Make Your Own Stepping Stones Kits
Messy fun that turns into a permanent remembrance and a reason for your kids to take a walk through the garden. The kit comes with all the materials needed for concrete artists to create a personal masterpiece. They take awhile to dry and use, but they'll have the fun of getting dirty and expressing themselves and they'll be able to see the results immediately even if they can't step on them for a week or two.3. Bug Bog
Kind of yucky, really, and perfect for the older inquisitive kid gardener. This terrarium kit comes with seeds for 10 different carnivorous plants including pitcher plants, the sundew plant and, of course, the Venus flytrap. Good gross fun and easier to keep than a puppy.4. The Garden Game
If your family likes board games every age can enjoy, I'd recommend The Garden Game from kidsgardening.com. It's a little like playing SimGarden; there are seeds to plant, plants to feed and water, bad weather, natural disasters and hopefully, harvest festivals. The game takes players through the seasons of a garden. The player who grows the largest garden and saves the most seeds wins. If nothing else, they'll never look at their vegetables the same way again. Ages 6 and up, 2-6 players.5. Monticello Children's Garden Kit
No one was more enamored of gardens than Thomas Jefferson. The Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants has put together a children's gardening kit with easy-to-grow heirloom seeds of plants selected for their fun colors, fruits or forms. Seed varieties include Love-in-the-Mist, Nasturtiums, Johnny-jump-ups, Calendulas, Scarlet Runner Beans, Bachelor's Buttons, Sweet Basil, and Globe Artichokes. Suitable for ages 6 and up, in most growing areas.
6. WormLab from the National Gardening Association
What could be better than watching icky worms turn leftovers into compost. The WormLab can compost up to seven lbs of food scraps each week, with squiggly red wigglers and a Grow Brick to get started. Fun and educational for the kids and a big bonus for your garden.7. Talking Microscope
Bugs again - but at least this time none can get loose in the house. This is a kid-sized microscope with kid-sized buttons. It's from the National Geographic Society and I've been very impressed with the quality of items from their catalogs so far. This is really an electronic toy. It comes with 12 insect-photo slides and as your child views, the microscope asks him or her questions about what they're seeing - in case the full effect of a magnified silverfish isn't awe inspiring enough. (Requires 3 "C" batteries, which are not included.)8. Kid Sized Garden Tools
If you've got kids who love to help in the garden, give them tools that fit their own hands. I can't guarantee they'll make less of a mess with them, but they're less likely to get hurt and they'll learn the importance of taking care of your tools. Here's a selection of brightly colored fun - yet functional - kid sized gardening gear.9. Butterfly Garden by Insect Lore
What kid doesn’t love butterflies? With this kit they’ll raise 5 Painted Lady butterflies while learning about their life cycle. Painted Ladies are supposed to be safe to release into the environment. Everything you need is included in the kit. Available only in the Continental U.S. and Alaska. Ages 4 & up.
