Kids Gardening Resources

There is a growing (no pun intended) number of web sites especially for kids, and of particular interest are sites dedicated to gardening with children.

Gardeners and horticulturists have intuitively known for a long time that kids love to garden, and gardening develops children in many different ways.

They learn the rhythms of nature, the character-building virtues of patience, responsibility, sharing, acceptance of loss, experience the joys of seeing planted seeds and bulbs sprout and eventually bloom, and many others. Gardening offers a vehicle to teach many things including: science, botany, ethnobotany, language, history, recycling (composting), math (calculating volumes, numbers of plants or seeds, weights, areas, etc.), agriculture, entomology, plant pathology, soils, and lots more.

As any gardener knows, cultivating plants is relaxing, exciting, and interesting!

Recently, studies have been undertaken to scientifically verify what we have known all along - that gardening is good for you.

These resources wil help adults and youth tap into resources on the web to make the most of gardening experiences for kids.

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Junior Master Gardener Online Game (for 3rd-5th graders)

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Links to Sites With Children Gardening Emphasis and Related Subjects
Texas Aggie-Horticulture's KinderGarden Site
Junior Master Gardener

Science Fair Project Links
4-H and Youth Horticulture - NC State
Arizona Youth Gardening

Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program - National Wildlife Federation
Children Enjoy Growing Zinnias
Children's Gardening Books
Children's Gardening Grants
Composting for Kids
Gator Gardening for Kids (Florida)

Insects - Youth Educational Activities (Texas A&M)

Missouri Botanic Garden's Kids Learning Network
More Projects, Products, and Grants for Children's Gardening
KidsGardening - National Gardening Association
National Junior Horticultural Assocation
Seeds of Change Garden
USDA for Kids (United States Dept. of Agriculture) U.S. EPA Explorers Club
Give Water A Hand - for young people taking action in their communityWisconsin Fast Plants - a science education program
Updated 3/11/14