Get your kids outside more and instill a love of nature by creating their own spot in your landscape! Bright colors, fun smells, sound and motion, plus touchable plants are everything you need to make them a complete sensory experience!
Plant flowers around their sandbox, behind a swing set, around a kiddie pool, or create their own little area in your yard. Let your children, of course, help you pick out their favorites!
Kids that spend more time outdoors learn to appreciate nature and respect living things, and are often healthier, and have fewer allergies and asthma. Inspire their creativity, STEM learning, problem-solving skills and their desire to learn and discover that lasts for a lifetime!
They can enjoy a place to be active and relax, relieving tension and anxiety. You’ll notice better attention spans and focus and reduced tension, fidgeting and restlessness!
This doesn’t even start talking about the many health benefits they gain physically! Fresh air, sunshine and physical activity galore!
Here are some nifty additions for your children’s garden to spark imagination and stimulate curiosity!
Plant a ring of sunflower seeds or plants, leaving a gap where the entrance will be. Once they’ve reached a certain height, gently tie the tops together to form the top of the tent. Snip off any interior leaves and lay down straw, sand or outdoor turf for your kids to relax in the shade!
This can also be done with other tall-growing plants or climbing Vines, pole beans or flowering plants. To train the vines, secure twine or cordage in the circle and secure them to an overhead hook, several feet above for the vines to climb. Planting seeds or plants at the base of each cord. Install poles that form the teepee, secured at the top, and spread netting, chicken wire or mesh over the poles to give the vines something to climb on.
Use flowering vines or any type of fruiting or leafy vining vegetable and use chicken wire or hoops to create tunnels for kids to crawl through or walk through, depending on how much height you can achieve. Occasionally, go through yourself to remove debris and leaves growing inside, and the occasional spiderweb.
Try Clematis, Passionflower, Trumpet vines, Wisteria, Honeysuckle, and annuals like Sweet Pea flowers or Morning Glory.
Easy to grow Pole Beans or edible Peas, Kiwi vines, Grape vines, Cucumbers, and Squashes (summer or winter squashes).
Planting a Sensory garden that will stimulate all 5 senses and benefit the young and old alike!
Whether it's easy-care Daisies for plucking petals. Snapdragons that you can make the 'mouths' open and close by pinching the base of the flower. Play with Jewelweed/Touch-me-Nots or Spider flowers that have seed pods that explode when touched, these are kid-friendly flowers that always beckon for touch!
Bright colors and big blooms call attention best. Choose bright yellows, reds, hot pinks, orange and purple.
Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist) rattling seedpods
Food is always a great motivator and an easy, inexpensive way to get kids involved with the outdoor world! You don’t need a huge area to start, a simple raised bed, large container or planter, or corner of the yard is perfect for them to plant seeds and watch them grow!
There’s nothing that creates core memories for your child than gathering plump berries and eating fresh fruit from the bush or sampling a fresh carrot they pulled out of the ground themselves!
Unique blooms and textures that spark the imagination and curiosity, plus they’re generally allergy-free for little hands to pick without worry. As always, monitor your child at all times for safety!
After the blooms are done, you get unique sensory seed pods in the fall! Kids love to play with these and help spread seeds. In fall, kids love to collect seeds and help you disperse them for next year!
Kids love butterflies, ladybugs and watching pollinators buzz from bloom to bloom! This introduction to how pollination works, and how plants and insects live in harmony with their environment. Catch fireflies in jarsYou can actually buy Butterfly eggs or larvae and watch them grow and munch on the leaves and turn into cocoons and hatch.
Plants like Salvias, Bee Balm, Coneflower, Coreopsis, Milkweed, Butterfly Plants & Buddleias are prime butterfly plants. Grab a butterfly net and a terrarium or jar for kids to watch their catches, before letting them free after a few minutes of observation.
These are unique garden plants that are kids’ favorites!
Add these great learning and wildlife-attracting decorations to expand learning!
You can easily create a place where kids can run around with fist fulls of flowers and make wishes on dandelion puffs. Don’t forget the fun of a good old-fashioned mud puddle or pile of fall leaves can contribute to a child's exploratory nature! Don’t worry about getting dirty! Kids wash! And soil has mood-boosting benefits!
Even a porch or patio mixed container garden will be enough to start - a Children's garden doesn't have to take up the yard! Start small with a window box or planter, or a patch along the side yard. You and your kids will enjoy exploring the wonders of nature and inspiring your children's investment in the world of life and learning!
Head over to NatureHills.com today to find what inspires them the most and we’ll help you find the right plants for your climate and sun needs! Hands-on learning and expanding the inquisitive minds of a child is easy with the help of Nature Hills!
Happy Planting!