Gardening with kids can be tough. There’s always plenty to do in the garden, and it’s much harder when kids are bored and begging for things to do.
Gardening doesn’t have to be boring for kids, though. There are plenty of good ways to keep them occupied, engaged, and even out of your hair while you tend to do what needs doing.
The sooner you get kids into the garden, the more interesting and engaging it will be for them. By giving them good things to do in and around the garden, you might just instill a lifelong love of gardening into your kids—a valuable skill and interest to have!
Even if your kids don’t grow up to immediately be big gardeners, at least you’ll have set the stage, and they’ll have an example and some knowledge to fall back on if and when they do need it.
Jump to:
- It Doesn’t Always Have to Be a Chore
- Skipping the Obvious Electronics Option
- 31 of the Best Ways to Keep Kids Entertained While You Garden
- 1. Give them a journal.
- 2. Get planting!
- 3. Give them a Space of their own for Planting.
- 4. Build a Living Playhouse
- 5. Keep a Dirt Pile or Bare Space for Dirt Play
- 6. Let them Build Borders, Paths, and Walkways
- 7. “Pack” a Picnic
- 8. Pick a Snack
- 9. Weeding
- 10. I Spy
- 11. Scavenger Hunt
- 12. Lucky Clover
- 13. Rock Picker
- 14. Press flowers and plants
- 15. Bug Catchers
- 16. Plant ID
- 17. Books and Audiobooks
- 18. Track and Maze
- 19. Assign a Single Task or Responsibility
- 20. Or, Pull One from a Hat (Or Bucket)
- 21. Draw
- 22. Make Row Markers
- 23. Make Pet Rocks
- 24. Make Bird Deterrents
- 25. Scare the Birds and Critters from Crops
- 26. Photography
- 27. Inventory
- 28. Harvester
- 29. Waterers
- 30. Pay Per Pick or Task
- 31. Gardener’s Little Helper
- Good Fences Make Play and Distraction Safe
- Build Their Own Garden Kit & Tools
- How do You Keep Garden Kids Busy While You Work?
It Doesn’t Always Have to Be a Chore
Teaching kids responsibility and having them chip in to lighten your load is positive. When you look for ways to keep kids safely, soundly, and smartly entertained while you garden, make it a mix of things that are fun and interesting, and work with your kids’ interests.
Teach them to value a job well done but teach them the fun and relaxing side of life in the garden, too. This might mean they’re given age-appropriate work while you garden, but it might mean they find good ways to play and enjoy the space, life, and nature surrounding them.
Mix it up. Give them options. Make it a fun and mutual decision.
Skipping the Obvious Electronics Option
Electronics are an obvious “solution” to keep kids busy when we need to get things done. And while we cast no judgment here, we’ll also assume that those of us engaged in gardening would like for our kids to take something away from the experience--something more in tune with nature, with the wonder of childhood, something more useful and real, a skill that they can take into their older years and adulthood. Whether they choose to use it or not is up to them, but at least the foundation of exposure, knowledge, and possibility has been laid for them.
To that end, we’ll just accept that we all know that electronics are an option and that those who choose to exercise that option are free to do so. But when you’re looking for something along more natural and interactive lines, we’ve got these suggestions for you (from a fire-hardened mother of four!).
That said, there are a couple of these suggestions that include electronics. Take them or leave them, but we think you’ll agree the suggestions are more of hands-on, educational, and more meaningful nature that combines the best of both worlds.
31 of the Best Ways to Keep Kids Entertained While You Garden
1. Give them a journal.
Have kids help you keep track of what goes on, what goes right, and what goes wrong. Kids too young to write can draw. Older kids can help them label, or you can sit, discuss, and label later. Or, they can just leave them drawings. Kids’ choice!
2. Get planting!
Involve kids in planting. Even young kids can easily set seeds, cover trenches, and tamp the soil.
3. Give them a Space of their own for Planting.
Make your child (or children) a space of their own to plant for themselves. Don’t micromanage it. Guide them but let them be the boss. Let them decide what to plant and give them responsibility for weeding, maintaining, and harvesting. If it all goes to the weeds, that’s fine, but it’s their space to have.
Good seeds for kids to plant include fast-growing things that they can see a quick result with:
- Lettuce
- Radishes
- Green beans
- Sunflowers
- Corn and pumpkins can be good choices because they are large, grow steadily, and are favorites among kids.
4. Build a Living Playhouse
Plant a living play space where your kids can stay busy and out of your hair. They can use it to relax, play, snack...
A Sunflower house is a thing of beauty and function. They’re easy to grow, and your kids can help, too. Another good option is a green bean teepee or teepee made from another climbing plant, like morning glories. The faster it grows, the better, so it grows into a real hideaway.
You can mix and match different tall and climbing plants to fill the house in faster or more completely.
5. Keep a Dirt Pile or Bare Space for Dirt Play
What kid doesn’t love playing in the dirt? Setting aside a bare plot or pile of soil or dirt can keep kids from digging where you don’t want them to. Add some shovels and dirt toys or child-appropriate garden tools and buckets.
6. Let them Build Borders, Paths, and Walkways
Let them help you define areas for you and for them and help keep aisles and walkways clear of weeds, etc. Aisles and walkways are the perfect place to let kids work and weed because you don’t have to worry about them ruining valued plants.
7. “Pack” a Picnic
You may be in or at your garden for a while. Take along a picnic to give kids (and yourself) a break while you feed the monster.
8. Pick a Snack
There’s nothing quite like fresh garden berries and vegetables. Let the kids pick themselves a snack to enjoy in the garden. Snap peas, berries, and cucumbers are a few good options. If you’re concerned with cleaning them, take down a small, covered container of water to wash snacks in before they eat.
9. Weeding
Weeding is an important job in the garden and a good job for kids to start with. Teach them what plants are important and how to spot and pull the weeds. It’s easiest for kids to weed around large, obvious plants so they don’t accidentally pull them.
10. I Spy
Start a game of “I spy” and see what your kids can find in your garden. You might all be amazed at all the things there are to see!
11. Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of “scavenger hunt” plants, insects, or other items for your kids to look for in the garden. Just remind them to take care around important plants when they're looking.
12. Lucky Clover
Send them on a hunt for a lucky clover, like the elusive four-leafed variety.
13. Rock Picker
Give a kid a bucket and have them help pick rocks from the garden. You may even set a small price as a reward, like a penny or a nickel per rock.
14. Press flowers and plants
Teach kids to press flowers or plants in a book or in a small flower press. These can be used for craft time in the garden or at a later date.
15. Bug Catchers
Set your kids on a mission to catch bugs. What kid doesn’t love that? Teach them to steer clear of the stingers but let them find bugs that are interesting to them. Or, put them to work on pest control! A kid with a bug vac or a handheld household vacuum can help you control pest populations.
Set them up with a good Insect ID app or book so they can learn what they’ve caught and what’s living in your shared space.
16. Plant ID
Do the same with a good Plant ID app or Plant ID book. See what the kids can learn on their own! When they find them, this Plant ID journal is a good place to keep track. Identify weeds as well as purposeful plants.
17. Books and Audiobooks
Older kids can read and relax and read to younger kids while you garden. Audiobooks—with or without books to follow along with by sight—are good valuable entertainers, too.
18. Track and Maze
Teach your kids the spaces that are safe for walking and running, and let them use your aisles, borders, and pathways as a track or maze. You may even plant with this in mind. You can make a good maze in a patch of corn or sunflowers, too.
19. Assign a Single Task or Responsibility
Give each child an age-appropriate task that they are responsible for, for the life of the garden. It might be weeding a row or a type of vegetable, spotting holes where insects are damaging plants, or picking a row, part of a row, or type of produce.
20. Or, Pull One from a Hat (Or Bucket)
If doing the same thing over and over gets too tedious, mix it up and let the kids pull a task from a hat instead.
21. Draw
Drawing is a worthwhile pastime and one that builds good fine motor skills. And there’s plenty to inspire kids to draw in the garden! Make sketch pads and drawing utensils a part of your garden tool pack.
22. Make Row Markers
Paint pen markers on wood stakes make great row markers that don’t fade and wear away. This is a good thing for kids to do that helps you, too!
23. Make Pet Rocks
There’s never any shortage of rocks in a garden. Pet rocks are fun for kids to make. When they’re done, they can hide them and scavenge for them. They can also make rock rows and plant markers the same way.
24. Make Bird Deterrents
Let kids build scarecrows or small bird scarers out of shiny things (like old CD’s hung from wood dowels or stakes). Homemade wind chimes and noisemakers are good choices, too, and generally, anything that’s shiny and distracting to birds.
25. Scare the Birds and Critters from Crops
Flying a kite is a good way to scare birds away from berry patches and other areas where you don’t want them feasting. Activity and kite flying will keep skittish creatures like rabbits away, too.
26. Photography
A child-sized camera is fun for kids and will help them build the journal and story of your garden and their year in it.
27. Inventory
Set kids to task taking inventory of what’s in the garden or keeping lists of what you need to do, replant, etc.
28. Harvester
Kids can be great harvesting help!
29. Waterers
Kids love water on hot days. Let their love do double duty and assign them places to keep watered.
Watering cans work better with kids than hoses do, so they don’t drown plants, and things don’t get out of control.
30. Pay Per Pick or Task
Let your kids earn and learn something about the value of money and pay for hard work and a job well done. There are many ways you can pay kids for their efforts. For instance, a pay-per-pick for each vegetable they pick or each pint of berries they fill. Or make it a set amount, like 50 cents or a dollar for a bucket filled with weeds. Pay per rock, or foot of hoed aisle, or pay per aisle completed.
31. Gardener’s Little Helper
In general, let your kids be helpers in the garden. Make it something that is helpful to you, too. This isn’t and probably shouldn’t be the only way to occupy kids while you get things done in the garden, but for some of the time, it’s a great thing to do that is mutually beneficial. Decide together what form that should take and what is fun and interesting to you all.
Good Fences Make Play and Distraction Safe
Fences make gardens safe from pests and hungry critters, but they also help keep kids corralled while they play and you garden.
When kids are young, a good, reliable fence—even a cheap one—is an investment that saves time, headache, and, more importantly, keeps kids in a safe space where you know they are. For young children, fences should not be able to be opened or climbed over so you know where they are when your eyes are diverted.
Build Their Own Garden Kit & Tools
Just as you have your own size and work-appropriate garden tools, your kids should, too. Giving kids safe, age- and size-appropriate tools to work with will make garden work and play more enjoyable and more manageable. Real, child-sized tools can do real work if the kids can wield them.
Here are some good books and tools that garden-loving kids will enjoy:
Kids’ Garden Tool and Caddy Set
How do You Keep Garden Kids Busy While You Work?
Have a useful tip to keep kids safe and occupied while you’re in the garden? Share it in the comments—we'd love to hear what works for you!
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