Grow2Eat says: “Get your children and grandchildren gardening!” as spring, is the perfect time to get your children or grandchildren interested in gardening. Children, it says, will usually enjoy garden tasks such as planting/sowing, light digging and light weeding, adding that:
“Planting a wildflower meadow is a great task for children as they can spot all kinds of insects in the flowers when they bloom June-September. The RSPB currently have tips for creating a wildflower meadow which will be useful to look at before getting your little helper involved.”
It ends:
“Children may also enjoy growing radishes, sweet peas and lettuce. All of these plants grow quickly so children will be able to see results when growing these, which they find particularly motivating. In reality, children often like helping regardless of the task. You can buy gardening gloves and tools for children from most garden centres, which makes them feel like an established member of the gardening team. As long as they are involved in tasks, they will not only be getting fresh air and exercise, they will also feel a great sense of pride when their efforts pay off and they see their plants growing in summer.”
Hard to resist!
NAEE thinks that grandparents need to feature strongly in such activities given that they are likely to have more time than parents, more experience, and, rather sadly, more expertise. We know of schools that actively seek out grandparents to work with children in school gardens and on school allotments. More of it, we say. It’s win-win all round.