Kids can have fun in the garden and on a windowsill. It can give them an understanding of food and green issues in a fun environment. Help them grow plants that are easy, reliable and develop quickly to maintain interest. Give them good soil, a sunny location and help so they are not put off  gardening in the future.
Kids can be turned into enthusiastic gardeners from an early age and with luck it will stay with them for life

Plants for Kids

• Mustard and Cress are quick germinators and growers and produce an edible crop in days not weeks.
• Sunflowers are very popular with children, the seeds are easy to handle and the growing plants look bigger every week.
• Nasturtiums are quick growing and even if they do not like the peppery tasty the flowers and leaves are edible. The three seeds per flower show how plants reproduce year after year whilst providing food for other creatures.
• Plants from tubers or bulbs such as Dahlias and Lilies are popular for the flowers. For indoors as a present for Mum try a Gloxinia
• Seed potatoes. Peas or Courgettes are reliable croppers.

Indoor experiments that we tried as children

• Growing a bean or peas in a jam jar with blotting paper holding it to the side of the jar so you could watch the roots and shoots develop.

• Growing the top of carrots in a saucer of water to watch the tops shoot, but producing no real crop

• Planting the pips from an orange or grapefruit. Put in lots of pips if available to avoid disappointment. Plants won’t be hardy.

Safety for Kids

• Do not let them eat plants or seeds without your express permission, many are dangerous for young and old alike.
• Beware of sharp objects and secateurs . Clean any small wounds and consider tetanus injections when next at the doctors.
• Small children can drown in shallow pools but many water features do not involve any depth of standing water. Ponds are great fun for older children with the wild life.
• Keep chemicals out of reach under lock and key if possible
• Consider the safety of wild life, provide nesting sites and hiding places for various creatures.
• Remember it is meant to be  fun

A farmer wanted to rear hens from young chickens but they all kept dying. He asked a friend if he was planting them too deep or too close together.