The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids: 101 Ways to Get Kids Outside, Dirty, and Having Fun

by Whitney Cohen

“What better way to begin to explore the natural world than to experience the magic and beauty of a family garden.” —Arden Bucklin-Sporer, author of How to Grow a School Garden

Many gardeners find that once they have children gardening goes the way of late-night dinner parties and Sunday morning sleep-ins. Raising kids and maintaining a garden can be a juggling act, leaving the family garden forgotten and neglected. But kids can make great gardening companions, and the benefits of including them are impossible to ignore. Gardening gets kids outdoors and away from television and video games, increases their connection to plants and animals, and helps build enthusiasm for fresh fruits and vegetables. Their involvement becomes the real harvest of a family garden. In The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids , Whitney Cohen and John Fisher draw on years of experience in the Life Lab Garden Classroom and gardening with their own children to teach parents how to integrate the garden into their family life, no matter its scope or scale. The book features simple, practical gardening advice, including how to design a play-friendly garden, ideas for fun-filled theme gardens, and how to cook and preserve the garden's bounty. 101 engaging, family-friendly garden activities are also featured, from making Crunch-n-Munch Vegetable Beds and Muddy Miniature Masterpieces to harvesting berries for Fresh Fruity Pops.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Parenting, Childrens

264 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2012

Reviews

[Angela]

Nice resource for parents/grandparents/teachers of (especially) younger children looking for ways to include them in gardening projects. Some of the projects that caught my eye were newspaper pots, seed tape, edible-flower ice cubes, personalized pumpkins, garlic-braiding, and garden-photo greeting cards. One of the recipes mentions "if you have a lemon tree," which prompted me to check where the authors are gardening: California. So your gardening mileage will likely vary. For example, many of the crops they suggest for the pizza/salsa/etc. themed beds would not grow in the same season in my region.

[Cheryl]

Exhaustive and exhausting. Not a kids' book, despite if your library shelved it there. Mainly directed to ambitious and energetic people who have both experience and plenty of time. A few ideas are adaptable to smaller scale circumstances, even to renters, but those of us who are looking for projects with those kinds of limitations would likely be better off looking for a more focused work that goes into more depth. Like a blog maybe. This is more like an idea book, with not quite sufficient details about the nitty-gritty.

[Clairette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! Has many doable ideas. Main takeaway for me is that having children be responsible for the less fun aspects of gardening (watering, weeding) is unreasonable, and the way to teach a love of the garden is by making it a free (not necessarily lawless) kiddie space, inviting wildlife and growing food.

[Rita Melvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book filled with nifty ideas and useful gardening information. All great ideas that I plan to implement once the weather gets warmer.

[Melani Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book with gorgeous illustrations, projects, recipes, and ideas.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good resource; I can imagine just having this on a bookshelf to refer to at any time I’m looking for inspiration.

[Ashley Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some good ideas! Definately one I will reread to get ideas.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of interesting and fun ideas! A list of parties ideas in the back was a fun surprise

[Kathy John]

Wonderful!

[Duxcaelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hippie, but cute. Great ideas.

[ladywallingford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neat book! This is one that I want to add to my own collection. It gave me some great ideas for our backyard play area. It's too blah now in my opinion.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was full of info! i liked the seed tape craft and rock plant markers.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chock full of great ideas. Some very simple (scarecrows & mudpies) to the more involved (raising chickens).

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine. Alot of basic ideas, none very involved, all pretty easy.

[Matt Kruse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun ideas to get kids involved in gardening.