National Children's Gardening Week

Things to do with the kids during National Children's Gardening Week. 

National Children's Gardening Week celebrates the fun that gardens hold for kids. Children love growing plants and love being involved in the garden but they’re often impatient, wanting to see instant results. National Children’s Gardening Week aims to capture children’s enthusiasm at a time when results are immediate. 

Pick up your FREE Peter Rabbit Activity Booklet from Meadow Croft 

We're giving away FREE activity booklets between 26th May - 4th June. Come and collect one for your children! 

Plant up a Hanging Basket

Hanging baskets are an excellent way to add an extra dimension to your garden. They are suitable for even the smallest spaces. 

Create a wildlife home with the children

Building a bug hotel (also known as wildlife hotel) in your garden with the children can provide a safe hideaway for wildlife, make use of any garden waste, and offer the children plenty of learning opportunities. It is a great project for children to be involved in and learn more about their natural environment. 

A well built hotel can shelter anything from hedgehogs to toads, to solitary bees to bumblebees and ladybirds to woodlice. 

For more information on ‘How to build a bug hotel’, head over the RSPB’s website https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/nature-on-your-doorstep/garden-activities/build-a-bug-hotel/ 

Share the excitement of growing your own! 

Growing your own is something that the children can get involved with. Gardening is a healthy, fun activity. Children can learn new skills, have fun, play, and develop self-confidence by spending time in the garden tending plants and growing their own food. Most children enjoy being outdoors and love digging in the soil, getting dirty, creating things, and watching plants grow.

Did you know? Growing fruits & vegetables with the family has proven to encourage young children to eat them in larger quantities.

If you’re new to growing vegetables, salad leaves are a great place to start. Crunchy fresh leaves with a fantastic range of textures and flavours, and easy to grow! Beetroot is an easy to grow option too. The seeds don’t need much encouragement to germinate and they require little maintenance. Courgettes and cucumbers are also a great choice, especially with children! Carrots are a fantastic crop to raise from seed, and popular amongst the children. 

Don’t forget, if you don’t want to grow everything from seed, you can always visit us here at Meadow Croft and we have a wide selection of vegetable plants that you just simply need to plant in your garden, feed and watch grow!  

Make a mini pond 

Did you know, that providing a pond is one of the most worthwhile and effective things you can do to encourage and care for wildlife in your ownback garden? A wildlife pond provides breeding habitat for toads, dragonflies and damselflies, a vital source of hydration for pollinators, insects and hedgehogs, and somewhere for diving beetles, water scorpions, pond skaters, newts and frogs to live.

Plant with Mr Men & Little Miss

Sow Mr Men Little Miss seeds with your kids - they'll love to watch them grow. These seed packets are brightly illustrated on both sides with easy to follow instructions and a fun interaction between Walter the Worm and the featured Mr Man/Little Miss character on the reverse. These seeds are a great way to introduce young children to gardening.