Children and gardening are a natural fit. Getting kids outdoors, digging in clean, healthy soil, discovering bugs, worms, birds, the properties of water and learning about weather can become elements of a healthy lifestyle. Many studies have shown that kids who grow their own food will be more apt to taste and enjoy it.
Gardening in the North: A Seasonal Journey
Here in Alaska—and in many northern regions—we spend about nine months dreaming of our gardens and only three truly gardening outdoors. But that doesn’t mean we’re idle during the long winter months. It’s a perfect time to involve children in planning: flipping through seed catalogs together, sketching out garden layouts, feeding the birds, and talking about what we’ll grow when the snow melts. By starting seeds indoors in early spring, we not only get a head start on summer planting—we also invite kids into the gardening process long before the ground thaws. It becomes a season of curiosity, anticipation, and learning.
Engage the Senses in the Garden
Even if you’re not in the garden yet—whether you’re at home, in a classroom, or stuck indoors on a cold day—you can still help children connect with nature by inviting them to use their imagination. Ask them to close their eyes and picture a garden on a warm, sunny day. What do you hear? Maybe bees buzzing or birds singing. What can you see? Flowers blooming, butterflies flying. Can you smell anything? The scent of fresh soil or a blooming rose. Can you taste something? A juicy tomato or sweet peas right off the vine. What do you feel? Cool water on your hands, soft petals under your fingers.
Encouraging kids to imagine the garden with all five senses builds anticipation, curiosity, and a deeper connection to the natural world—even before they’ve stepped outside.
Little Hands, Big Seeds
Little hands are surprisingly capable when working with big seeds, whether indoors or out. At events where I work with children, one of my favorite quick and successful planting activities is using Jiffy 7 Peat Pellets. Simply presoak the pellets ahead of time, then let each child place one large seed into a pellet and gently press it down. The entire pellet can then be placed into a labeled snack-sized plastic bag—with the seed name and date written on it. No messes and no broken hearts!The seed will sprout inside the bag, and once it’s an inch or two tall, the whole pellet can be transplanted into a garden pot or container—no need to disturb the roots.
Best Big Seeds for Young Gardeners
Some of my favorite seeds to use with children are nasturtiums, scarlet runner beans, pumpkins, and rainbow chard. Large seeds like these are easy for small hands to handle, and there’s no need to thin seedlings later since you’re only planting one per pellet. Plus, they’re less likely to spill in the car on the way home from an event—a bonus for parents and teachers alike.
As luck would have it, most large seeds are also the ones that can be direct-sown into the garden later on, making them especially practical for gardening with kids. They’re easy to see, easy to plant, and give quick, satisfying results.
Remember, laidback gardeners, the goal isn’t perfection. Follow the directions on the seed packet (see my earlier post for more on that), and simply do your best. If the seeds end up a little too close together, too deep, or even get mixed up—don’t worry. The world will keep turning, and it all becomes part of the learning experience. Gardening with children is about exploration, not precision.
Tips for Gardening with Young Children
A popular activity in many children’s gardening books is planting seeds in half an eggshell, often placed in a cardboard egg carton. While it may look cute, I’ve found this method to be less than ideal. The shells hold very little soil, so they dry out quickly, and the cardboard tends to wick away moisture. In my experience, this setup often leads to frustration rather than success—something we want to avoid when encouraging young gardeners.
Instead, choose small containers that retain moisture better, like yogurt cups or fruit cups from school lunches. These provide more soil and a better environment for seed starting. Make sure to add drainage holes!
Also, be mindful that kids often love to water—and sometimes a little too much. To help with this, I recommend giving them a small spray bottle. It encourages gentle watering, targeting the soil rather than the leaves, which helps prevent common issues like leaf diseases.
Small Bulbs, Big Joys
Planting bulbs can be a wonderful way to introduce children to the magic of gardening—and it’s especially satisfying because they get to be part of both the planting and the big surprise in spring. Small bulbs like crocus and Siberian squill are ideal for this. They’re easy for children to handle and only need to be planted a few inches deep. Even young kids can manage this with a little guidance and a trowel or bulb planter.
Larger bulbs—like tulips and daffodils—require a deeper hole, roughly two to three times the bulb’s size, but they’re still very manageable for older kids. Just follow the planting instructions on the package, and don’t stress if things aren’t perfectly spaced. It’s about the experience, not the precision.
Fall is the time to plant these spring-flowering bulbs, so it’s a great way to get children excited about what’s coming months down the road. For a fun learning twist, check out the Journey North Red Emperor Tulipproject (journeynorth.org), which tracks the arrival of spring through tulip blooming across North America—kids love being part of something bigger!
While I encourage supporting local nurseries, I also highly recommend Brent and Becky’s Bulbs as a fantastic source for high-quality bulbs and great information. Their catalog is full of inspiration and perfect for planning your next planting adventure with kids in mind.
Garden Visitors: Attracting Birds Year-Round
As you explore gardening with children, don’t forget that not all the magic comes from the soil—some of it comes from the sky.
Attracting birds to your yard with native plants and/or a feeder can spark curiosity year-round. In winter, it’s an invitation for birds to keep coming back in other seasons—and they may even help control garden pests along the way. In general, landscaping for wildlife should include food, shelter, and water to attract both pollinators and birds. Make native plants part of your gardening style and encourage young gardeners to observe who visits!
As Margaret Atwood said, “In the Spring at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” And what better gift to give a child than the joy of digging in, growing something, and being part of the living world.
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