Last summer, Sandy offered to help care for her 6-year-old granddaughter during summer break from school. While Sandy was happy to help her son with childcare, she wasn’t sure how much gardening she would be able to manage with a future first-grader. As it turned out, they had a remarkably productive season, and both learned some things along the way. Below are Sandy’s top 3 tips for gardening with grandkids (or any little people).
3 Tips for Gardening with Grandkids
Tip #1: Make sure to have designated paths for walking in the garden. Sandy did this by laying cardboard in the pathways and covering it with wood chips. Other ideas for garden paths could be pea gravel, mulch, flat stones or lining the dirt walkways with bricks. It was then a simple matter of showing Adalyn to stay on the path while she was in the garden. Countless plants were saved using this one tip!
Tip #2: Appropriate size garden tools are a must. Just one day of watching Adalyn try to use an adult garden hoe was enough to send her grandma on a hunt for child-size tools. It wasn’t only a matter of practicality; it was a matter of safety. Many big box stores carry implements for kids, either in the gardening area or toy section. Adalyn ended the summer with her own hoe, rake, trowel and watering can. Most gardening sections also carry children’s gloves.
Tip #3: Make it fun! When her little helper would become weary while weeding, Grandma would come up with a game. How many weeds can we pull in 30 seconds? Who can pull 10 weeds faster? Setting a timer on your phone also helps – “Let’s weed this area for 5 more minutes then we’ll have a popsicle!”
In addition to accomplishing a successful gardening season, Sandy and Adalyn were able to have fun while spending quality time together. Sandy highly recommends gardening with grandkids! It’s a wonderful pastime for spring and summer in Bixby, Jenks, and Haskell.
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