Kids Gardening Activities
Earth Day is the perfect time to experience the beauty of our amazing planet through outdoor activities with the kiddos! As a Mama who loves to be doing anything outside with my little Gardenista, I’m always excited to try new adventures that help us both explore Mother Nature. So in honor of celebrating Earth Day, we’re going to share some of our favorite earth-focused activities you can do with little to no budget.
Plant Host Plants
Certain caterpillars only eat specific plants to progress to the next stage of their life. By planting host plants, your family will attract and sustain the butterfly’s life cycle. Sharing the metamorphosis of a butterfly is a magical experience for children of any age! Planting Florida (or whatever state your garden is in) native plants is best when possible. Planting native is ideal because the plants will adapt to your soils and weather conditions, which require less maintenance.
Here is a short list of Florida native plants that will attract Mama butterflies to lay her eggs in your yard:
Atala caterpillars on one of my Coontie plants.
Monarch caterpillar munching away on one of my native milkweed plants.
This Passionflower is beautiful and attracts Zebra Longwing and Gulf Fritillary butterflies because it is a host plant for its caterpillar babies!
Hang a Bee Hotel or Bee Box
Help a colony of bees find a comfy spot to call home in your garden by hanging a bee hotel or box. Little Gardenista wanted to customize her box before we invited the bees to come stay in our garden!
Chalk Garden Mural
Take a walk around your garden or local park. Tell your child to take mental photos of their favorite things they see in the garden. Using chalk draw your favorite things you spotted. Now you have a mural to remind you of all the beautiful things you spotted along your walk.
Garden Suncatcher
Botany + Art = Garden Suncatcher: Cheer up any room with art from the garden! Collect blooms, leaves, and/or sticks. Encourage your child to create a design using the art supplies collected from nature. Using a mason jar lid, contact paper, flowers and leaves from the garden, and a piece of twine a beautifully unique suncatcher can be created.
Little Gardenista crafting her Garden Suncatchers.
Follow these simple steps to create a botanical suncatcher:
Collect art supplies, like flowers, leaves, sticks, or leaves.
Create a border.
Make the front of the sun catcher with something clear and sticky, like contact paper.
Let the kids create their unique designs using the supplies collected.
Tie yarn or string to hang & enjoy.
Little Litter Picker Uppers
Simple, free, and immediate way to instill responsibility with kids and make a difference in your community. Use sticks, tongs, or other makeshift things to pick up trash along a favorite sidewalk, park, or beach. Encouraging your kids to help pick up litter is great for the environment and helps with their fine motor skills.
Kids Seed Project
One of the most exciting things to share with children is the journey of a plant from seed. This was definitely my favorite project I’ve done with my Little Gardenista! All that is needed is a few seeds, paper towel, water, and a plastic baggie or clear jar to get started. Once your seedlings are grown enough to be planted, let your child plant the seeds in soil. The seedlings can be planted directly in the ground or soil in a pot. Make watering the seedlings fun! This will encourage your child to take on watering the seeds every few days.
Little Gardenista starting sunflower seeds on a damp paper towel.
Little Gardenista watching the seeds sprout and grow into seedlings.
Little Gardenista watching the sunflowers grow taller every day.
Little Gardenista’s bright and cheerful sunflowers.
Create a Rock Collection or Sculpture
Throughout the next week create a new game of collecting rocks. Once your kid has acquired a good amount, let them decide what they want to do with their assortment. My niece loves painting dragons on her rocks!
My niece’s awesome rock collection that has her custom artwork!
Design a Fairy Garden
Help your child find a pot with a plant that hasn’t fully taken over the container or a shady spot in the garden. Encourage them to select small toys and any additional tiny garden elements for the fairy garden. Once the location for the fairy garden is picked out, and supplies are selected, build a magical fairy garden. Add a fun spin by creating a fun magical story behind your daughter’s or son’s new mini-garden.
Plant a Family Tree
Trees are a beautiful gift for current and future generations to enjoy! They provide habitat for the wildlife, pops of color during certain seasons, and shade during those hot Florida summer days. The memory of planting a tree with your family will help you all grow a deep connection with nature. Not all trees get huge. With a little research you can find a tree that is “just right” for your yard or garden.
Rainbow Game
Explore a local park, neighborhood, or backyard. On your exploration, look for as many colors as you can spot. Make a note of how many colors that you can spot!
Cloud Watch
Bring a blanket out into an open area of your yard or local park. Encourage your kid(s) to lay down with you, stretch out, relax, and look up at the clouds. What do you see? Different shaped clouds? An animal or story?
Listen to Bird Songs
Take a few moments to stop and take in all the sounds of nature. How many birds do you hear? Can you see what type of birds are chirping or tweeting? The library is a great place to find books to help you identify what type of birds you spot out in nature. Some parks have helpful signage to help as well!
Create a Birdfeeder
Collect a few pinecones. Tie a piece of string or yarn around the top of the pinecones. Using a spoon or butter knife spread peanut butter in between the various layers of the pinecone. Sprinkle birdseed on top of the peanut butter and hang in a tree. Don’t be surprised if wildlife (like squirrels or raccoons) find the tasty treat first!!
Garden Scavenger Hunt
Invite your family to look for different items in nature. Here is a helpful sheet from Kids Gardening: Garden Scavenger Hunt sheet
Spread Wildflower Seeds
Pick up a packet of wildflower seeds at your local nursery. Or order Florida Wildflower seeds that are responsibly sourced from here: https://www.floridawildflowers.com/. Find a sunny spot in your yard and spread the wildflower seeds. Water them generously and enjoy!
Yoga in the Garden
Find a flat place in the garden or local park. Listening to the sounds of nature, try to practice mindfulness and being present with a simple yoga flow in the garden.
A few things key things to keep in mind when doing these activities with your kids are:
Respect nature
Try to let your kid(s) explore on their own
Most importantly - have fun!