gardening with young children

 is certainly not as easy as doing it on your own!
I could do more during naps, but naptime is precious and already taken by other activities.. (computer anyone?)
Other downsides of gardening during naptime:
 it can get hot in the mid day sun, well so far we have had only a couple warm days, sadly.
And the children can't be part of it.

As young as they are I like for them to be there, see what matters to us and learn early is ok and what is not.


-The little baby is either asleep in his seat nearby (I leave him in the kitchen and check on him every now and then in case he wakes up) or awake, in which case I bring his seat outside or carry him around in a babycarrier.

-While wearing the babycarrier, with a baby in it! there is not much I can do, I mostly try to engage with the toddler.
I can also pick a few weeds,
make a mental list of what is to be done and how soon
check for pests and invasives
day dream a little bit :)
take pictures to show my husband who misses out on the fun and cute so we can have this lifestyle..

-with just a toddler, things get easier
he loves to just play with a stick
or imitate, a friend got him little tools which are really really sweet. I let him dig in the raised beds, in between plants.
He also loves to play with water, if it's warm enough outside I let him. I know he will be soaked but that's fine with me. He gets a warm bath and dried clothes pretty soon after. We do garden usually in the afternoon, before dinner, bath and co.

 
here he is spraying himself with a spray bottle of water, you can also see his little blue spade and the green mini rake.
Playing with an old coffee pot, I showed him to water the leeks, but it didn't last very long! 

As much as possible I try to give him a little task that really helps me. Of course it is not always well done, but it doesn't matter so much. 

A toddler can help for:
-planting seeds in a specific area (in egg boxes, or spread seeds if you show him were)
-watering (not too long though, then he waters everything, especially his shoes..)
-picking hazelnuts on the ground and bringing them to a bucket (or basket or whatever you like)

 Most important tips to make gardening with a toddler a good experience:

-as for everything when in charge of children, remember raising the kid is your main activity and the gardening is the distraction/way to get there.
It doesn't matter if your row of corn isn't straight, it matters that the child helped dig the holes and pat the ground around the freshly planted sprouts.

-encourage, a lot. He is only.. months/years old, this (almost anything) is a great achievement! encouragement will make them want to do it again.
My toddler is so proud when I say "well done! We'll have to tell daddy about this tonight!" :)

-set clear boundaries.
and by clear I mean easy to identify.
I use straw for example. Walking on straw is not allowed. This protect the strawberries and the peas without having to help him identify them each time.
He is not allowed on the deck at all in every day life. It's not too dangerous but one side isn't protected and I can't define a smaller limit, so the whole deck is forbidden.
Stairs are now allowed. He had to wait for me, but little by little he learned to go down by himself safely. I still watch him but he can do fine so it is not forbidden ant more.

- have fun!
a few favorites: observe worms or snails, smell mint or lavender, play pick-a-boo, sing songs, play wolf, tag, wind chimes, etc. any outdoor game that works for you and your toddler.
Toys are also really useful of course. a friend gave us this little play house, hours of fun!
We fill it with empty water bottles (equivalent of gallons sized milk jug I think) and he jumps in there. or we tell the three little pigs story etc.