Guest submission, written by Rebekah
As a grandparent, you play an important role in the lives of your grandchildren. You’re there to lend an ear, offer advice, and share your wisdom with the younger generation.
Of course, you’re there to be a friend, too – and there’s no better way to foster that sense of friendship and camaraderie than to find fun things to do with your grandkids!
Whether it’s planting a garden, building a terrarium, or even tending to a composting bin, there are plenty of easy gardening projects for seniors that grandparents can also do with their grandchildren. Not only will you be able to reap all the benefits that gardening offers, but you’ll be able to do it with the people you love the most – your grandkids!
In this post, we’ll give you some ideas on easy gardening projects that you can tackle with your grandkids.
7 Easy Gardening Projects Grandparents Can Do With Grandkids
Looking for inspiration? Here are a few easy ways to share your love for gardening with the grandchildren.
1. Plant a Garden
If you love gardening, then there’s no better way to spend time with your grandchildren than to pass down some of your plant wisdom to the next generation.
You can start small – get your grandkids involved in buying and then planting seeds and letting them help you water the plants. Choose plants that grow quickly, if possible, so that your grandkids can quickly see the fruits of their labor appear. Some good options include lettuce, sunflowers, and green beans. Here’s a list of rewarding and easy plants to grow with kids.
Consider investing in some mini-tools that your grandkids can use for themselves. That way, you won’t have to worry about them getting frustrated with your full-size ones.
Try not to worry too much about the mess – embrace it! There are so many benefits to letting kids get dirty and they’ll have much more fun if they know you aren’t going to get angry with them for getting grimy.
2. Start Composting
Composting is a wonderful way to produce rich organic fertilizer for your garden – and all you need to get started is some kitchen waste. You can build a compost bin with your grandchildren outdoors in the garden or start a vermicomposting bin with worms indoors.
Whichever you choose, this is a great way to get the grandkids involved in the garden. You can demonstrate to them how scraps of food and lawn waste are broken down in the compost by worms, fungi, and various microorganisms, and then show how that compost can help plants grow big and strong.
Read More: Activity ideas to help kids learn about composting.
3. Make a DIY Bird Feeder or Birdbath
Kids love seeing birds fly around the yard – what better way to attract them than by building a DIY bird feeder with your grandkids?
You can make a fun bird feeder with recycled materials you likely have lying around the house. Grab a toilet paper roll and spread a thick layer of peanut butter around the outside. Pour some bird seeds onto a paper plate, then roll the toilet paper tube around in the seeds. Press down gently to encourage as many as possible to stick to the peanut butter.
Hang the roll somewhere in the garden and enjoy watching your grandchild’s face light up as dozens of birds come to visit for a snack!
Or try this birdseed ornament activity and make some birdfeeder gifts together.
4. Find Some Bugs
Playing with creepy crawlies might not be the first task that comes to mind for you when you’re considering how to have a good time in the garden, but for your grandkids, it’s probably going to be at the top of the list!
Though it might make your skin crawl, children love digging for bugs, worms, and other critters in the soil. Encourage them to find and release helpful bugs like earthworms and ladybugs into the garden and as you do so, explain the benefits these creatures offer to the soil and the plants.
5. Build a Terrarium
A terrarium is simply a miniature garden that is grown inside of a covered plastic or glass container. These low-maintenance features offer gardeners a great way to incorporate plants into the home. They also serve as a fun way to teach kids about the water cycle as they demonstrate condensation, evaporation, and precipitation.
All you need is some potting soil, a container, pea gravel, and some small tropical plants. Let your grandkids choose the plants and you have a fun weekend project on your hands – and one that they’re sure to remember forever.
6. Do Some Arts and Crafts
You can even get your grandkids involved in the garden on rainy days! There are all kinds of things you can do to bring nature indoors. Paint rocks that can be used as garden markers or make dream catchers that you can hang on the trees.
You can decorate plant pots, create garden windmills, or even paint flowers and other things you found in the garden. The opportunities are endless!
7. Create a Container Garden
Container gardening is a great way to get the grandkids involved in gardening because it is so versatile. You can grow just about anything in a pot – and you can grow indoors or outside.
We recommend choosing plants that will produce vegetables or fruits, like blueberries, tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, or cucumbers. Bonus points if it’s a plant that matures quickly, like green beans!
By growing in a container, you’ll have better control over the growing conditions. It also gives you more options to choose from regardless of the season, since you won’t have outdoor weather to contend with. You can even grow tomatoes in the dead of winter, if you choose!
Read More: Turn your container garden into a Fairy Garden
As a grandparent, you probably know that time spent with your grandkids is precious.
Make that time even more special by trying one of these fun and easy gardening projects today! Don’t worry – they are so easy that there’s zero green thumb required.
Other activities to enjoy your garden and backyard:
Rebekah Pierce is a writer in upstate New York, just north of the Adirondack Mountains. She holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education degree. In addition to writing, she also owns a farm, where she grows a variety of plants and raises chickens, pigs, and sheep. Her writing interests cover everything from farming and gardening to education, health and wellness, and business. She writes regularly for her own blog, J&R Pierce Family Farm, as well as for California Mobility.
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