Gardening With Children

Bursting with ideas for getting -- and keeping -- kids interested in the outdoors, Gardening with Children is a comprehensive guide to making the garden fun and safe. Kim Wilde offers many projects in which children play an active role in gardening, along with insightful tips for making a family garden educational and exciting. With video games often the preferred activity of today's children, Gardening with Children shows parents how to encourage their children to enjoy active, outdoor exercise instead, whilst nurturing a shared family interest. Along with guidelines for safety in the garden are there are ideas for maintaining a child's attention span throughout the sometimes slow gardening process. Children like to feel grown-up and to see the results of their labours: this book shows parents how to help them. Illustrated, step-by-step projects range from creative ways to plant, such as rainbow and sensory gardens, to making scarecrows, wormeries and tile mosaics. For families with a small garden, or none at all, windowboxes and other activities are suggested. Indoor projects for rainy days are also included, as well as a plant directory identifying good plants for children, chosen for their speedy growth, smell, cost-effectiveness, ease of handling and other child-friendly characteristics. Kim Wilde, an experienced gardening columnist and devoted mother, is the ideal guide for helping parents bring the joy of gardening to their children. Her year-round, easy-to-follow activities will inspire any family for many years.