7. Watering fun
Elkin says it so well, and it applies to all ages: “Children love water! Getting them involved in irrigating with a spray nozzled hose or a watering can is engaging and gratifying. They feel like they are giving the plants what they need to survive….and they are!”
8. All the Senses
Engaging all of the senses is one of the perks of gardening for any age. Elkin says, “Entice wonder in the garden through soil exploration, insect discovery and utilizing the five senses to understand plants. Smelling, tasting and touching all kinds of herbs and other plants is fascinating for children!”
Ann Guenther added, “There’s nothing like the sound of plunking rocks into a bucket.”
Essential project gear and ideas for using it
Bling, Blang, hammer with my hammer,
Zingo, Zango, cutting with my saw.
-Arlo Guthrie
Christine Markman is so handy, I marvel at her ability to build. She shared some of her background: “My dad was a plumber and builder. He built our house when I was about nine years old. So, I helped my dad by holding up walls and he let us nail things. We were allowed to build our own forts out of scrap wood. My mom had a huge garden and we helped her in every aspect.”
Willow Shamson described some of what benefited her from working with her father on projects growing up: “The most important things he did was to explain everything he was doing, even though I didn’t always seem to be paying the slightest bit of attention…I heard and I learned. He also made me feel like I was really essential to the project, even when all I did was put it in a few screws or hold a wrench or listen while he said ‘now watch this…You may need to do this someday…How do you think we’ll take this broken piece off? Yeah we’ll do it this way…’”
Tim Faoro of Tim Faoro Construction finds that kids are naturally fascinated by tools. He points out, “It’s not so much about a particular ‘project,’ it’s about the tools. Use the tools – their names, what they can do and how to use them (safely) to keep the kids interested in whatever task or project is at hand.”
Dan Guenther says that picking up fallen nails was one way to engage his kids on projects. He also recommends giving kids their own toolbox or basket to store them. Kim and Scott Cuppett recommending keeping supplies handy: “We have a large tool chest of older tools and our wood scraps that we save; they are free to use our saved supplies to build stuff. A supply of materials is key to their interest. They’ve built numerous things with our scraps, including jumps for their bikes.”
