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Growing With Wonder: Starting a Children's Garden During the Summer Holidays

  • Writer: Eric & Ines
    Eric & Ines
  • Jun 30
  • 3 min read

Updated: Jul 3


Summer holidays offer the perfect pause in the year — a window of time where screens can be swapped for soil, and children can reconnect with nature through their own garden patch. Whether you have a big backyard or a few pots on a balcony, gardening with kids is a joyful, grounding experience that helps them grow in more ways than one.

Here’s how to plant the seeds of a magical summer — one that sprouts curiosity, confidence, and connection.

kids gardening
Kids gardening

Step 1: Keep It Simple & Fun — Start Small 🌼

The key to a successful children’s garden is to make it manageable and engaging. Think of it as their “secret garden” — a little world they can nurture and call their own.

Basic Setup:

  • A small raised bed, container, or corner of your garden — even a few repurposed crates or buckets will do.

  • Sunlight: Choose a spot with 6+ hours of daily sun.

  • Soil: Use good-quality garden soil or organic potting mix — safe for little hands.


Step 2: Kid-Friendly Tools 🧤

Give children their own set of small, colorful tools — it builds a sense of ownership and responsibility.

Essentials:

  • Hand trowel and fork (child-sized)

  • Watering can or spray bottle

  • Gardening gloves

  • Labels or plant markers (get creative with painted stones or popsicle sticks!)


Step 3: What to Grow? - Easy & Exciting Plants 🌿

Choose fast-growing, sensory-rich plants that provide quick rewards or are just plain fun.


Edible & Fun to Harvest:

  • Cherry tomatoes (sweet and bite-sized, plant now)

  • Container cucumbers (fast growing, small sized and the perfect snack)

  • Radishes (fast and easy to pull up, sow in August)

  • Lettuce (cut-and-come-again leaves)

  • Snap peas (climbers with crunchy rewards, plant in July for a fall harvest)

  • Beans (they grow fast and there'll be plenty to harvest)

  • Strawberries (a sweet summer classic)


Flowers & Herbal Friends:

  • Calendula – bright, healing, and bee-friendly

  • Chamomile – soothing and fragrant

  • Sunflowers – tall and awe-inspiring

  • Nasturtiums – edible, colorful, and great companions

  • Mint or Lemon Balm – easy, aromatic, and refreshing


Gardening with children
Gardening with children

Step 4: Make Tasks Age-Appropriate 🛠️

Let kids take the lead (with gentle guidance). Give them real responsibilities, and watch their confidence blossom.


Essential Garden Tasks for Children:

  • Sowing seeds & Planting (fine motor skills + patience)

  • Watering (consistency + care)

  • Weeding (learning to identify helpful vs. harmful)

  • Harvesting (joyful reward!)

  • Observing insects & pollinators (builds curiosity + environmental awareness)

  • Recording growth in a nature journal (drawings, notes, stories)


Why Gardening is Powerful for Children

A children’s garden is more than dirt and plants — it’s a living classroom.


Developmental Benefits:

  • Emotional growth: Builds patience, responsibility, and empathy

  • Physical development: Encourages movement, coordination, and strength

  • Cognitive skills: Teaches planning, problem-solving, and observation

  • Mental health: Reduces anxiety, nurtures calmness and resilience

  • Connection to food: Encourages healthier eating and an understanding of where food comes from

  • Eco-awareness: Instills a sense of stewardship for the planet


Final Tip: Let Wonder Lead

Let the garden grow wild with imagination — add fairy houses, bug hotels, a mud kitchen, or a journal station. Let them name their plants, talk to worms, and pick a tomato right off the vine. These little rituals turn summer days into memories that root deep and last a lifetime.


Ready to Grow Together?

Your child’s first garden might be a few pots or a winding path through flowers — either way, it’s a gift of presence, patience, and play. And in the process, they don’t just grow plants. They grow up.



✅ FREE Downloadable Printables for you

We know life with children is busy enough, so we prepared some easy and printable resources for your summer garden adventure:


1. Garden With Kids: Parent Checklist

A quick-start guide to help parents prepare and feel confident.

What’s inside:

  • Simple garden setup essentials

  • Kid-friendly tool list

  • Recommended plants to grow

  • Weekly task ideas

  • Tips for keeping kids engaged all season

    Download: Parent Checklist English/French



2. Printable Activity Sheets: My Garden Journal (bilingual)

Turn your child into a garden explorer with this playful journal page!

Includes:

  • “Plant of the Week” drawing space

  • Weather tracker (sun/rain/sprout stages)

  • “What I saw in the garden today” (bugs, flowers, birds)

  • Favorite garden moment of the day

Download: My Garden Journal (age 4-7) English/French


3. Children’s Planting Calendar (Summer Edition)

COMING SOON!!!


We'd love to see what you grow with your kids. Share your summer garden with us! Feel free to tag us on social media or send an email to info@mynordicgarden.ca

Grow wild and enjoy the summer!


Ines & Eric



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