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Gardening with Kids: 5 Essentials for a Fun and Easy Start

If you’re wondering how to start gardening with kids, these five simple tools and tips will make it fun, safe, and engaging for the whole family. We’re a big gardening family! I love it, and my kids love it! Plus, it’s the perfect way to get outdoors and have a little fun together. I’m sharing 5 things you need to gather as you begin to garden with kids!

Growing and Planting a Garden with Kids

Planting and growing is one thing my kids love to do with me that doesn’t feel like a chore. I don’t know if it’s the dirt they get to put their hands in or watching our vegetables grow, but it’s something we all can do together.

Gardening is one of the best ways to spend quality time outdoors with your children. It’s hands-on, educational, and surprisingly calming for little ones (and adults too!). Whether you’re planting veggies or creating a colorful flower pot, gardening with kids is a wonderful way to teach responsibility, patience, and the joy of growing something together.

As a gardening mom of three, I’ve found a few tried-and-true items that make all the difference. Here are 5 essential things you need to start gardening with your kids, plus a few bonus tips to keep your green-thumb adventures fun and safe!

I’m happy to partner with Miracle-Gro today, an M&T sponsor, to help you get inspired to “Gro” as well! If you visit their Gro Project facebook page, you’ll see some perfect planting ideas for your home: Teyrarium, Ukulele Garden, Origami Planter.

5 Essential Tools You Need for Gardening with Kids

There are all kinds of things to grow and garden with kids. Planting and growing a vegetable garden is our favorite. My kids love to watch the plants grow, as it seems they grow a few inches everyday. But since we’ve already planted our veggies for the season a month or so ago, today it’s time to get a couple of flower pots ready to display on our deck.

For helping in the garden, here are a few tips I’ve come across as I garden with my kids:

1. Kid-Friendly Garden Supplies

Start with the basics: a lightweight plastic pot, fresh potting soil, and vibrant, easy-to-grow plants like violas or dahlias. Let your kids choose the flowers—it gives them ownership and excitement.

Planting a Flower Pot

One of our favorites is the purple viola, which reminds me of a song my grandma used to sing, and now I sing to my kids. ?

? Tip: Personalize your garden space with family memories or color themes your kids love!

Related: Seasonal Fruit and Veggie Gardening ?

Purple Viola Plants

2. Comfortable, Durable Gardening Gloves:

Gloves make all the difference! Look for kid-sized gloves with rubber grips to protect little hands from thorns and improve tool handling. The soft blue ones are great for general planting, while rubberized green gloves are perfect for tougher jobs like weeding.

Pro Tip: Keep a second pair handy for watering tasks or messy mud play—they’ll want to help with everything!

Gardening Gloves

3. Sunscreen Station:

Protect those sweet cheeks and tiny shoulders! Keep sunscreen near your back door so it’s easy to apply before heading out. Even on overcast days, UV rays can sneak up during garden time.

? Bonus: Have your kids “help” apply it as part of their gardening prep ritual!

Sunblock for Gardening

4. A Place to Rest (Yes, Even for Kids!):

Gardening is hard work! Add a few child-sized chairs or stools to your garden setup, along with a soft kneeling pad for the grown-ups. Whether they’re helping or “supervising,” having a comfy place to rest makes gardening more enjoyable for everyone.

Need ideas? Check out our DIY Outdoor Crafts for kid-friendly backyard fun.

Gardening Chairs

5. Mini Watering Cans = Maximum Fun:

Kids love watering plants—so much, in fact, you might need one watering can per child to prevent squabbles. Grab small, inexpensive cans so they can “own” their watering tasks. It’s a great way to teach responsibility and the importance of consistency in gardening.

Try this: Let each child pick a “garden buddy” (plant) to care for each week. ?

Watering Cans for Gardening

Extra Tips for Gardening with Kids

  • Start small: A flower pot or small herb box is perfect for beginners.

  • Name your plants: Giving plants silly names makes the experience more fun and memorable.

  • Celebrate progress: Take photos and track growth—it’s science and scrapbook-worthy!

Keep Growing Together

Gardening with kids is more than planting seeds—it’s about cultivating patience, care, and creativity. Whether you’re growing tomatoes, flowers, or a love of nature, these simple tools will make your gardening time easier and more joyful.

? What are your favorite gardening memories with kids? Share them in the comments below or tag us on Instagram @makeandtakes!

*Originally posted: 5/16/13

Marie

Marie is a mom of 3 living in Seattle, WA. She's been the founder and managing editor of Make and Takes for the last 16 years, sharing DIY tutorials for home, family, and fun. Author of Make and Takes for Kids, Early Childhood and Elementary graduate, and currently teaching 2nd grade in Seattle!

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76 comments

  6. Would love to plant tomatoes, and show my girl that living in the city doesn’t mean you can’t have a garden!

  8. We love to plant a rainbow of flowers every year. It’s become a tradition for the kids to pick out a flower in each color of the rainbow and plant them. We love gardening! :)

  13. Always wanted to go to holland to see the tulips, maybe i should grow my own…and some sunflowers too!

  19. I would love to grow the strawberries. I can’t get enough strawberries and they are so expensive in the grocery store!

  20. We’ll making The Origami Garden as soon as my kids get out from school! It looks fun!

  25. I love the license plate project and I really love Mama B’s Garden pic’s too!

  28. The toyrarium or succulent garden look like super fun projects I’d love to try! Thanks for the chance! :)
    lorepuckett at verizon dot net

  36. I would love to start a strawberry garden. First though I would love to get some of our favorite vegetables planted to have fresh from the garden dinners. I’m lucky this year as our Granddaughter is living with us so I can teach her how to do a little garden.

  38. We just started planting some seeds in our garden. I’m excited to see them come up.

  39. We are gro-ing veggies, herbs and flowers. I can’t wait to get a big hanging basket for right outside our front door!

  41. My kids love helping me out in the garden! We’ve done two geranium planters, herb garden planter and my daughter’s impatiens planter. In our garden so far we have onions, tomatoes and peppers. We love this time of year!

  47. Whatever my husband wants. He’s the gardener of the family – I just enjoy what he does.

  49. My daughter’s only 18 months, but she likes to help me dig the holes and water the plants. We’ve set up pots of lemongrass on our patio for occasional cooking use, but mainly as a mosquito repellent. We also are going to get the annuals potted this weekend. I’d love to “Gro” some bell peppers because we put them in almost everything we cook and my daughter loves to eat them fresh!

    1. whoops forgot to put the project I’d like to do! I really love that origami garden!

    1. There are some herbs that flourish here in AZ from my experience. My basil did really well in the plastic containers outside (the ceramic ones dried out the soil too quickly from getting really hot). Lemongrass does amazing here with very little care. Rosemary once it’s established also does really well.

  52. We’ve began growing a lot of plants but we could use more strawberries for sure. They’re a favorite around here!

  54. My kids are SO excited this year to plant in our new raised beds…they’ve even talked their dad into building them each their own mini-version of mine! One is planting cucumbers and the other jack-be-little pumpkins and cantaloupes. So fun!

  55. My girls are having fun watering flowers this spring and really want to plan some vegetables.

  64. I would like to try their origami garden project, or some hanging tomato plants.

  66. I love the kids terrarium project from their Pinterest page–http://pinterest.com/pin/403142604114234587/

  67. I like all the ideas for bulbs — my husband and I are wanting to do a lot more with our new house’s yard starting this fall.

  72. l’d like to start a vegetable potted garden, like those in your Stepping into Spring board. :)

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