Gardening has always been a perfect children’s activity. It combines muck and magic, a chance to get messy, and the promise of great things from even the tiniest seed. This book is designed to inspire in children a love of all things gardening. As well as exciting but achievable growing projects, there are also beautiful craft ideas that use items gathered from the garden and outdoors.
As the large family garden is a rarity these days, the vast majority of projects in this book can be created with almost no outside space at all. Even a sunny kitchen windowsill can give a child the chance to grow a whole range of herbs, salads, and flowers —and, what’s more, they can keep an eye on progress while they munch on their breakfast.
The projects include lists of all materials needed as well as step-by-step instructions and photographs, making them easy for children to follow. The range of ideas means that there are plenty of simple projects to fill a quick 20 minutes, as well as more complex ones that will keep children occupied for an entire afternoon.
Perhaps more importantly, while children may think they are simply having fun, they will also be learning about gardening, from topics such as seed sowing and the germination process to the thinning out of crops and the importance of pollinators.
The basic techniques that children will learn in these projects can be used again and again. As their confidence grows, so their imagination and natural curiosity will hopefully lead them to explore this hobby further, perhaps in adapting some of the project ideas, taking part in a school gardening club, or even creating a small garden of their own.