This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our full Disclosure Policy for details.
Gardening with kids is more than planting seeds, it’s a playful way to spark curiosity, teach responsibility, and spend meaningful time together. Children love the thrill of digging in soil, watering plants, and spotting the first signs of growth. For parents, it’s a chance to turn ordinary moments into lasting memories. Kids can transform any space into their own little garden playground, whether it’s a backyard, balcony, or windowsill. From painting pots and building fairy gardens to growing easy-to-pick vegetables, and edible flowers; gardening keeps them busy, creative, and connected to nature.
Find 30 fun projects for kids gardening with activities, planting, and learning ideas to explore in the backyard. Try new garden discoveries for spring and summer with hands on experience and learning from beginner guide to imaginary play to inspire and bring them close to nature with our free printable kids gardening planner at the end of the article.
What are the benefits of gardening with kids?
Gardening gives kids more than fresh food—it builds patience, responsibility, and curiosity about nature. Children are naturally curious about the world around them. Gardening introduces them to science, creativity, and healthy habits. Some key benefits include:
- Healthy eating: When children grow their own carrots or strawberries, they’re often more excited to taste them, making healthy eating fun.
- Learning and Creativity: The garden also doubles as a hands-on classroom, teaching science through plant life cycles, math through counting seeds, and creativity through design and ecology.
- Sensory and Active Lifestyle: It provides a calming sensory experience by digging soil, smelling herbs, and watching pollinators connect kids to the natural world and encourages exercise and appreciation for fresh air.
- Family time: Most importantly, it strengthens family bonds and gives children pride in harvesting something they helped nurture, whether it’s a basket of peas or a single bright sunflower.
- Responsibility: Caring for plants helps kids learn patience and routine.
Kids Gardening Ideas
For starters get kids gardening tools, or simply a gardening kit from your local gardening store. I suggest to get them knee pads and gloves, while they can use gardening materials you already own with supervision at home.
Find common gardening with kids questions answered and a free printable gardening planner to make the process fun and stress-free at the end of the article.
So, let’s get started:
Creative Planting Projects for Kids
1. Paint Garden Rocks and Stones
Paint rocks for garden with kids. Painted decorative rocks help identify plants and look beautiful in your backyard. Find ideas for painted rocks.
2. Plant Markers
Recycle and paint popsicle sticks, bottle caps and items around the house into plant identifiers. Spray paint and make a color code garden label system on a board. Find how to make duct tape garden markers.
3. Imaginary Fairy Garden with Kids
I love this one with planter as home. A bucket filled with water decorated with pebbles and seashells and a twigs bench. Find more ideas to make fairy gardens.
Fun Outdoor Experiences
4. Grow a Sunflower Teepee
Plant sunflowers or string beans in a circle to form a living fort where kids can play, read a book, and watch the plants grow tall.
- Treasure Hunt in the Garden – Hide painted rocks or small toys among the plants.
- Bug Observation Station – Provide magnifying glasses to study insects safely.
- Garden Yoga – Practice nature-inspired yoga poses outdoors.
- Plant Maze or Obstacle Course – Set up paths between plants for playful exploration.
- Night Garden Adventure – Explore the garden with flashlights to spot moths and nocturnal creatures.
5. Garden Scavenger Hunt for Children
Make a checklist of bugs, plants, or colors—kids will stay engaged while exploring the garden.
6. DIY Japanese/Zen Garden
Let kids rake sand, arrange pebbles, and add mini plants, perfect for calm, mindful play outdoors.
Related: 30 ways to bring Zen at home
Food and Harvest Activities:
7. Grow Vegetables
For starters grow potatoes in a bucket, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. Find more ideas and tips for your vegetable garden.
- Make Garden Smoothies – Use homegrown spinach, kale, or berries.
- DIY Salad Bar – Grow lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes for fresh salads.
- Berry Picking – Harvest strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries.
- Pumpkin Growing Contest – See who grows the biggest pumpkin.
- Homemade Herbal Tea – Use mint, chamomile, or lemon balm from the garden.
- Vegetable Stamping Art – Use harvested veggies like okra or potatoes for stamping projects.
8. Pizza Garden for Kids
Plant tomatoes, basil, oregano, peppers, and other veggies for their favorite dish. Kids enjoy growing their favorite toppings. Find ways to make affordable raised garden bed.
9. Kids’ Garden Tea Party Corner
Grow chamomile, mint, and lemon balm for fresh herbal “tea.” Create a cozy corner where kids can brew and sip in their own way.
Cicily
10. Herb Spiral Garden
A circular stone herb spiral filled with basil, thyme, rosemary, and mint.
Related: 70 Creative and Easy DIY Garden Ideas on a Budget
11. Grow Strawberries in Hanging Baskets
Hanging baskets provide room for strawberries to hang and get adequate sunlight to grow sweet.
12. Grow Giant Pumpkins with Kids
Challenge kids to grow the biggest pumpkin for Fall decor and carving.
13. Grow Edible Flowers with Kids
Plant nasturtiums, calendula, or pansies, and let children taste the colorful flowers they grew.
Nature and Wildlife Projects for Kids
14. Build a Bug Hotel
Learn about the benefits and make a bug hotel with kids in the garden. Teach them about the ecological system around your home with materials from nature.
15. Butterfly Feeder
Make a butterfly feeder with your kids by adding water and fruits in a shallow bowl. Butterflies love to feed on fruits nectar. This will also be your motivation to grow nectar-rick flowers like milkweed and zinnia.
16. DIY Bird Feeder with Children
Help kids craft a feeder for birds using recycled materials and watch them get excited about garden visitors.
17. Hummingbird Feeder
Make a feeder for your fast moving friends and hang it near your window to see them. Find ways to make hummingbird feeder for your garden.
18. DIY Water Garden
Set up a small water feature with water plants and pebbles for kids to explore pond life safely. Simply pour some freshwater in a container of your choice and grow lily pads in it. Find water fountain ideas for sprinkle fun.
Creative Garden Crafts for Kids
19. Painting Birdhouses
Have fun painting birdhouses with your kids. Hang them over the fence to attract birds. Find ways to make birdhouses.
20. Make Wind Chime or Suncatcher
Make a wind chime with fish wire and beads for your garden. Find fun tutorials to make windchimes with nature finds.
21. Grow Cacti and Succulents
A cowboy garden project for your enthusiastic kids. Plant drought tolerant cacti or succulent in a container with gravel, sand, and potting mix. Your kids will also have fun planting popcorn kernels.
22. Upcycled Plant Pots with Kids
Recycle empty containers, tin cans, jars and more into planters for eco-friendly garden care and teaching repurposing.
Drill in the clamps and hang the jars. Learn about plant walls and mason jar garden planter ideas.
23. Make Pot Heads
These are the cutest painted flower pots, join the bases of two terra cotta pots to make the body and head. Stack smaller pots for hands and legs on a burlap string. Drill holes and knot it inside the larger pots. Use the head as planter for your favorite plants.
24. Scarecrow Project
Build a fun and friendly diy scarecrow using old clothes.
Learning and Exploration Projects
25. Kids’ Worm Composting Project
Set up a small worm bin in your garden, so kids can see food scraps turn into healthy soil for the garden and take more interest in gardening.
26. Kids’ Sensory Garden Activities
A tub filled with water, sand, and garden toys lets kids splash, scoop, and play while exploring textures outdoors.
Related: Brilliant vegetable garden tips, tricks and hacks for starters
27. Build a Sponge Grass House
Cut and make a structure with sponge and use toothpicks to secure it in place. Pour water making sure not to over soak and layer with grass seeds. Keep it moist by covering it with a lid. Kids watch sprouts grow like magic.
Related: 20 Right Seed Starter Trays and Kits Options To Begin
28. Preserve Fresh Flowers
Preserve backyard flowers by pressing them. Kids can make nature crafts or make a garden diary. They can press different flowers and note facts about each. You can also teach your kids to collect seeds as a Fall activity. Learn Nine Proven Methods to Dry Flowers.
Related: DIY Seed Packet Ideas: 20 Presentable Ways to Repack and Gift
29. Self-Watering Planters
Recycle plastic bottles into self-watering pots teaches kids eco-friendly gardening. Find more self watering planters.
30. Picture with Flowers Garden Journal
A great idea! Take a framed picture of flowers that kids grow. Encourage kids to keep a journal and take photos as they garden. Writing helps them track what works, while pictures capture special moments, keeping their excitement and interest alive!
31. Decorate Planters with Nature Finds
Take your kids on a nature walk in the neighborhood. Collect natural things (like pinecones, moss, feathers, branches etc) to decorate planters, a fairy house, or a designated space. Find more ideas for 62 Nature inspired outdoor projects.
These are some fun ideas to keep your kids busy this spring. Which one did you like?
Free Printable Gardening with Kids Planner
Find free printable planner to help you get started on garden projects and activities with kids. You will find activities and journal templates for each season with guidelines and instructions.
Common Gardening with Kids Questions Answered
1. How do you start gardening with kids without feeling overwhelmed?
The trick is to start small and keep expectations realistic.
- Instead of planning a full garden at once – begin with a pot of herbs on the windowsill, a raised bed, or a single corner of the yard.
- Choose quick-growing plants – radishes, peas, lettuce, or sunflowers- so kids see results faster and stay excited.
- Give them a few simple tools – a child-sized watering can, and their own “pot” to care for, even if it’s just one container.
- Don’t worry about neat rows or perfect harvests – spilled soil and uneven planting are part of the learning process. The goal is less about producing flawless vegetables and more about letting kids explore textures, smells, and the joy of watching something grow from seed to sprout.
- Simple activities – like decorating plant markers, making a watering schedule, or measuring plant height each week can make gardening feel fun and exciting for kids.
2. How do you encourage kids to plant, grow, and care for a garden?
The easiest way to get kids engaged is by giving them a sense of ownership.
- Let them choose a few easy-to-grow plants like sunflowers, peas, or cherry tomatoes, and provide simple tools suited to their size.
- Break tasks into fun, age-appropriate steps, i.e., watering, sprinkling seeds, or harvesting, so they stay involved without feeling overwhelmed.
- Consistency helps too. Set a regular watering schedule, check progress together, and celebrate milestones like the first sprout or flower.
- When gardening becomes part of their routine and they see visible results, kids are more likely to stay excited and committed.
3. What age can kids start gardening?
Children as young as 2–3 years old can begin with simple tasks like watering plants or digging in soil. Older kids can handle planting, harvesting, and craft projects.
4. What plants are easiest for kids to grow?
Some kid-friendly plants include:
- Sunflowers
- Cherry tomatoes
- Radishes
- Strawberries
- Mint and basil
- Marigolds
5. How do you keep kids engaged in gardening?
Start with fast-growing plants (like beans or radishes).
Give kids ownership of their own plant or garden space.
Mix gardening with fun crafts like painting pots or making labels.
6. What are the educational benefits of gardening for kids?
Gardening teaches STEM concepts (photosynthesis, soil health, ecosystems), encourages problem-solving, and develops fine motor skills. It also supports mental well-being and mindfulness.
7. How can you garden with kids if you don’t have a backyard?
- Use container gardens on balconies or patios.
- Start a windowsill herb garden indoors.
- Join a community garden in your neighborhood.
Gardening with kids is one of the simplest ways to blend play, learning, and family time in the great outdoors. From planting strawberries to building bug hotels, each activity invites children to explore nature with joy and creativity.
Start small, pick a project that excites your kids, and watch their curiosity—and your garden—grow together.
Great list!! Alice LOVES helping me in our garden and I bet she would love some of these projects!
I thought other readers would enjoy an activity I got at the botanical gardens. Have you or your children “Ever Seen a Plant Move When You Tickle It?” If you wanted to share your love for nature with your children, here is an activity I have done with mine. This may change the way you and the kids react to plants for ever. Imagine giving your children some seeds. Having them watch them sprout and grow. Then shortly after the second leaves appear they tickle the plant and it moves its branches down and closes its leaves! Give them more than a gift; give them a learning experience they will never forget. “Ticklemeplant”
I did not know that I could use my artistic skills to enhance my home garden. Besides enhancing the aesthetic appeal of my backyard, craftionary has provided me with a means through which I can bond with my kids through simple gardening projects that we can all do together.
Sprouting and growing of seeds for a children is an uneviatable experience. It is the responsibility of the parents to assign their childrens some work regarding plantation of trees. If childrens do this by their own then in future they could not be suffered from any of this problems related to planting. ThankYou for posting such a awesome and a knowledgeble blog.
i really like Growing some plants . and allso they need a drink of weter eveyday in the week . and need energy . . ii like the pictures on the website .
hi..nice article! I enjoyed it very much. its nice that you have shared, keep posting!
I love this! I have school gardens always looking for ideas for kids to help with and these are soo cute!!!
Where can I get hands and feet for the flower pot kids?
You can use clay or playdoh to make your own or paint on stones or dollar store items to make them look like hands and feet.. Hope this helps!
These are such good ideas and my kids would love them! I love the idea of having their own planting or gardening area, that way, as much as I love them wanting to help me, they will leave my flower garden alone. I also really like the idea of creating a hummingbird feeder. They would love to put that near a window and just watch it all day. Thanks so much for sharing and for the inspiration!