Gardening With Our Child
By Robin Sauerwein
Illustration by Liz Monson

Gardening is one of those activities that can be enjoyed at any age and with your whole family. Even young children can participate. But why garden with your kids and would they really be interested in helping you plant a garden? Even if you don’t consider yourself a green thumb, you can still introduce your child to some simple and successful gardening projects that will delight you both.

According to Sandy Tanck, manager of the Department of Youth, Family and Teacher Education at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, gardening is a very
easy thing to do with children. There is always lots to do and kids can see very tangible results of their efforts. A sunflower, for example, can be planted by a two-year-old and in a matter of weeks, an 8-foot tall flower will be growing in his backyard.

Gardening allows kids to communicate with nature on a different level than if they were hiking through the woods. At the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum kids are shown how all the different factors like weather, animals, the seasons, impact a plant’s life.

“Kids are really fascinated by it,” Tanck said.
Gardening is also a great self-esteem builder. Parents have told Tanck that kids, who are not successful in other areas of their life like sports, feel a great success in a garden. It becomes a real valuable experience for them.

Tanck recommends getting your child interested early. The rule of thumb for planting a garden is to keep the space no larger than the size of the child.

“You can have great success with a little space and kids are thrilled with simple successes,” she said. Start small and build from that. When the child is starting school, you can help them practice their counting and measuring when you start planting the garden.

Kids will show more interest in gardening if you give them a sense of ownership. Let them know that this is going to be their plant or garden otherwise they will not be as enthusiastic if the garden belongs to someone else.

“Choosing the right crop is important,” Tanck said. A regular flower can have an attraction but being able to take that plant and use it for something else adds a lot to the experience for the child. Plants, which affect a child’s sense of smell or taste, are good choices.

“After you grow something, pick it and then make something delicious with it,” she said. Harvesting a plant that you can put to a use adds to the enjoyment of it whether it’s making a dried flower wreath or making a tasty snack in the kitchen.

Plants should have kid appeal. Beans, for example are very easy starter plants and you can plant purple beans instead of the common green type. Sunflowers are another favorite that come in all different colors and are fun to watch grow.

You don’t have to go at this alone. If you think you may need a little extra help getting inspired or just want some help from the experts, take a visit to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum where you’ll find an enthusiastic, experienced staff who will take your family into a world of plants that you will all love.

Ashley Fox, family program coordinator for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Learning Center, has kids young and old participating in her programs. She is hesitant to put an age limit on the activities since many of the activities are for the whole family including adults.

“Parents are my big kids,” she said. Sometimes the adults want to do the crafts more than the kids. In fact one parent commented, “I had a great time. I wish I had brought my kids.”

Most of the activities are geared for ages 5-12 although a new drop-in program called the “Buggy Brigade” introduces toddlers, ages 0-3, to the world of plants by engaging their senses. All you need is your stroller and a blanket.

The whole focus of Fox’s programs is to give hands-on experiential learning experience for families, not just children.
“We try to incorporate art, literature and a science aspect of horticulture,” she said. “We teach in a way that they understand and show how plants are related to their everyday life.”

That translates into programs and festivals that give kids an expanded view of plants. Programs that ask kids questions like, “Is your T-shirt made from a plant? or where did this juice in your juice box come from?” One favorite program is the chocolate program where a group learns how to make homemade chocolate by pounding it in the traditional Mexican way and adding fresh ground cinnamon. They teach that the cocoa comes from a tree in the rainforest. Then they compare the chocolate from the cocoa bean with the chocolate from the store. The cocoa bean is bitter and the chocolate chips from the store are sweeter because of the sugar that’s been added.

“It’s not just science and plants. It goes above and beyond and how plants play a part in life. It gives you oxygen, food and clothes,” Fox said.

The greenhouse is a “please touch me” greenhouse filled with exotic plants from all over the world like Venus flytraps and banana trees. Kid friendly “magic scopes” help kids see what a flower looks like inside and up close. There is also a new kitchen for kids to make all types of things connected to nature.

“Kids usually want to sleep over night here,” she said.

But when it comes to gardening at any age, Fox says that what kids really like best to do is just the simple act of planting a seed.

“They just love to get their hands dirty,” she said.

The Children’s Garden, a 23-year-old program, is another great introduction to gardening. Children, ages 7-12 participate in an 11-week program consisting of three planting Saturdays, eight weekday sessions and two special events. During the summer, they will learn how to tend a garden full of vegetables and flowers and learn how to use them in kitchen.

Randy Gage, children’s garden coordinator, said that that taking care of the garden, being outside in the summer and eating the fruits of their labor is really important to the kids. Part of the challenges of his job is to find tasty snacks for the kids to make with their vegetables. He likes to ask the kid what they like to eat and then substitute ingredients. The kids will make tortilla pizzas, for example, and top them with different vegetables.

“Gardening teaches about science, nature and the world. We really try to teach it on a larger global scale. The kids have a central role at tending the world. They are growing their own food and that is very powerful. Society is going away from that and there are just a few people who know how to do it. It’s a global benefit for our future and the living things in it and how it all works together,” he said.

“It’s all about exploration and fun,” Gage said. Parents can easily do a little of that with their kids at home. For instance, plant an avocado pit and see what happens or go through the seed catalogs together and pick out some flowers to grow together.

“You’ll have success,” he said. “Even failure you can learn a lot from. It’s not just about the juiciest tomato. It’s the whole process.”

Summer Day Camps are offered beginning in spring and continuing through summer. Family festivals are celebrated every month. Other programs of interest include cider pressing, flower pounding, and maple syrup demonstrations.

The Arboretum reaches out into the community as well through a plant mobile that visits schools throughout the school year and with two outreach programs that work with kids on city gardens during the summer. The 2003 summer camp brochures will be available in early February. People can call the Education office at (952) 443-1422 or send an email at education@arboretum.umn.edu to request a brochure.

Nobody’s Mother is in Second Grade
By Ron Pulver-pictures by G. Brian Karas

Oliver’s Vegetables
By Vivian French- illustrated by Alison Bartlett

Chipmunk Song
By Joanne Ryder – pictures by Lynne Cherry

June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner

Pearl Moscowitz’s Last Stand
By Arthur A. Levine
A story about standing up for the tree on the street

Non-Fiction books on plants

Leaf by Naturecraft

One Small Square Backyard
By Donald M. Silver
Illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne

Activity idea books for parent and teachers

Gardening Wizardry for Kids-Green Thumb Magic for the Great Indoors
By L. Patricia Kite
Illustrations by Yvette Santiago Banek