Gardening with kids is an activity that keeps on giving. It's one of our favorite Spring activities. There's the fun of choosing the plants, planting them, and watching them grow, but the main reason I love gardening with kids is that it creates an activity that can be done every day. I have yet to meet a toddler who doesn't enjoy watering plants (and the grass, themselves, the dog, and whatever else they can wet with the watering can!) and it becomes an activity that you can do each day.
If you plant a herb garden they can then go and collect the herbs when needed or when you have a lot growing (we put them in freezer bags and freeze for later when we have too many). The photo at the top of this page is actually 2 years old now and we are still using our wheelbarrow garden with our herbs in them. We have replanted a few times and added a couple of new things, but my toddlers use this almost every day.
We decided to make a wheelbarrow herb garden because our neighbor was getting rid of an old wheelbarrow, so it cost us nothing. Ask around and see if anyone has an old one laying around that they don't want or check out EBay or garage sales to pick up a cheap one. If you do buy one new you can get a cheap one for around $50.
What you need:
Drill (to drill drainage holes)
Potting Mix (the amount will depend on the size of your wheelbarrow)
Kids Gardening set (you really only need a simple set but there are some really cute kids gardening sets available! I couldn't help myself and bought the cute Melissa & Doug gardening set pictured below)
Watering Can - Obviously any watering can will do and you can pick these up for as little as $1 from department stores, but I have to confess to buying the cute Chameleon one below. At least we use it every day!
Herbs - You can buy seeds, but I recommend buying small punnets of herbs so that they can see what they look like when they're planted. We all know that toddlers have no patience so this way they can be watering the herbs and picking them straight away.
What herbs to buy: I'm not a gardening expert (not even close) so I recommend talking to your local gardening center to find out what herbs will grow best for your climate and location. We live in a very hot and humid climate and I found that basil and mint grew really well (2 years on and it is still going strong). Chives grew OK but not great and our coriander died pretty quickly. I don't think it liked the heat. Try to choose herbs that can handle a LOT of water as toddlers LOVE watering plants!
What to do:
1. (optional) Paint your wheelbarrow. We only did this because ours was so old, but it came up well. My husband used some old spray paint we had in the garage, which came up really well.
2. Drill drainage holes in the bottom of the wheelbarrow. We drilled 4 in an average size wheelbarrow and this has worked fine.
3. Fill with potting mix
4. Dig small holes and plant each herb (follow the instructions that come with the herbs).
5. Water them.
If you create your own herb garden I would LOVE to see it. You can email it to us, or share it in our Facebook Group.
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Some other activities you may enjoy are:
Simple Sensory Bins for Toddlers
Han-Son
Tuesday 8th of November 2016
Brilliant idea. We're trying to get the kids to grow vegetables in these too. Have you tried that before? Any tips there? Thanks and keep up the great work.
Cristina at Ava's Alphabet
Friday 1st of July 2016
This is such a darling idea. I have been doing a lot of gardening and planting with my 2 year old and 4 year old this year and we are having so much fun! They are really in to potted strawberry plants because of course waiting for the berries to turn red to eat is exciting! Thanks for sharing . :)
Summer activities for Toddlers - My Bored Toddler
Friday 17th of June 2016
[…] Toddler Wheelbarrow Herb Garden […]
Frugal Hausfrau
Thursday 16th of June 2016
This is a great idea and I think I would like to have one!! Thanks for bringing this by Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
Ann
Saturday 11th of June 2016
I have everything I need to make this happen, except for the green thumb. I'm hoping that our privacy landscaping that we're putting in on Monday will help me feel more comfortable going outside at all hours.