In honor of my virtual book tour kicking off on March 1, I’ll be holding a book giveaway during the entire month. I have 10 copies of Project Garden to give away. Thanks to my lovely editor at Adams Media for making it happen (that’s you Victoria). Here are the ways you could win:
- Post a comment here ON THIS POST, telling me why you think it’s important to garden with kids.
- Become a fan on my Facebook page.
- Review my book on Amazon (only if you’re familiar with it).
- Blog about it.
If do you all four of these things, you will have four chances to win. Or if you just do 1 or 2, that’s fine, too. Just make sure to let me know what you did when you leave the post on #1. I’ll put all the names in a blind drawing, and we’ll pick 10 winners in early April. Thanks in advance for you support. Happy gardening!
I already ‘like’ your page, but I’m increasing my odds by posting here as well…I think that gardening with kids teaches them how to take pride in creating something from scratch, patience in watching something start small and end big, and confidence in an accomplishment. If I win a copy of your book I plan to share it with many kids by making it part of the school library collection
I love gardening with my grandkids. I have found that they like to eat their veggies more if they helped grow them. Its such a great learning experience for them. Thank you for the chance to win a wonderful book.
I became a fan on facebook
I have an almost 9 yr old granddaughter who would love
these projects. Her Mimi (me) would enjoy as well.
This looks like a great book! I hope I win:-) I’m commenting here and I’ll head over to Facebook too. Happy today!
I became a fan of your page. Also I think it is important to garden with kids so that they can experience the miracles in this world, have an understanding of how food comes to us (not just from a store) and also it is an axtivity that is not in front of a tv or a video game and this gives them pride that they will remember rhe rest of their lives when they see that they grew what they are eating
I am so excited about this book! This is how I get my boys to eat vegetables and love them by helping me garden (they love to snack on beans while outside playing). I haven’t even thought of projects like this to get them to love it even more and bring them into what is generally my space. It is tough to teach them the importance of knowing where your food comes from!
I liked your page on Facebook. I like how it’s blog style! This book would actually tie in with what I am doing with my daughter’s girl scout troop this summer. We are going to be planting a garden. We live in Germany on a military installation where land to garden on it hard to come by. The girls all live in apartment style buildings and these projects will help liven up their balconies and teach them the importance of gardening. I’m hoping to learn a few things along the way as well! Best wishes on your virtual book tour!
I liked you on facebook. I love the sneak peak of the book! I think it has alot of great ideas I can use to have some fun with my grandchildren! Congrads on a great book!
Tammy
I think it is important to garden with children to teach them about where our food comes from. It teaches responsibility and they can easily see direct results of their hard work. I think it also teaches them important skills for life like-patience, dedication, consistency and how to get their hands dirty. I would love to have a copy of your book!
I “like” you on facebook
I am a fan on facebook. I think it is important for children to not only know where their food comes from, and but what it takes to get it there, and can you really think of anything more fun than playing in the dirt and getting
something to show for it?
I gardened with my kids and now with my grand kids. I think it is important for them to learn where food comes from and to be excited when the seeds grow into plants and produce. They learn responsibility by taking care of the plants. We also have fun in the kitchen making recipes with our garden produce.
There are SO many reasons gardening with children is important! Not only are they learning to explore outside and care for something that grows, but they are also learning to love digging around in the dirt! It allows children the chance to observe the life cycle firsthand! As a teacher, I sure wish the school systems allowed more time for this type of learning!
Glad I stumbled upon this and liked your facebook page! Looking forward to following along!
Allyson
Looks like a good book for our Community Garden library! We have families with kids, and we are expanding our educational work. I’ll fan you on Facebook, and mention it on our google group after I have seen it. Good luck with the book!
This book sounds great, and with three young kids, I’m sure we would have a blast doing all these activities. I’m just posting a comment here, but if I win the book, I’ll post a review on Amazon!
Thanks for the opportunity.
We are moving to a new home soon with a few acres of land for gardening. This book will be perfect source for getting our whole family involved in creating our new garden space. We look forward to enjoying the harvests as well as the beauty!
Gardening is an extremely important skill that all children should experince. Not only does it give them a deep connection with the earth it gets them outside. Children exposed to gardening have an appreciation for where their foods come from, and what food should taste like. When this occurs children are more open to trying differnt foods especially if they helped care for it and helped prepare it. Also the time spent together as a family is priceless.
It is very important to garden with your children as it gives you an opportunity to spend quality time with them. I can’t wait to garden with my grandchildren, as soon as I have some.
Thanks for writing this book. We are just getting our garden stuff together now and the kids are excited to try out your ideas! I fanned your page on facebook, we look forward to hearing more about your interesting ideas!
Gardening with kids is important because it teaches them respect for the earth, where food really comes from (not the grocery store) and encourages them to try new fruits and veggies. It also gives them a sense of responsibility and accomplishment — all while having fun!
Just found you and your site through your blog tour! My little dude and I garden all year long. It’s important I think to garden with him so he understands where food comes from. He appreciates our earth. And he’s learned to be responsible – in a fun way. It warms my heart when he says “Mommy we need to take care of the garden”.
I just “liked” you on facebook!
e Suburbs blog! My family and I love to garden and make things from the garden! Vegetables. Definitely taste better from the garden! We would love to have this book to include in our Homeschool studies! Praying we can win! I also liked you on Facebook! I will blog about it when I get a chance but since I only use mt smartphone for internet attaching links is difficult ignore impossible! (For me that is!)
I think it is important to garden with kids for many reasons. It helps them appreciate where their food comes from, a great way to get them to start trying new vegetables when they actually had a hand in growing them, wonderful bonding time with no tv/computer in the way, helps teach patience (by waiting for things to grow), responsibility (by having to water/weed, etc.), it is ok to get dirty (this is especially important I found with my great nieces as their mother is one who believes little girls shouldn’t play in dirt) and overall it helps ensure that backyard gardening will continue on.
I think it’s important for kids to garden because it allows them to see how God makes something beautiful and useful from something that seems small, ordinary, not very special. It teaches them about life, things come small in the beginning, they need care, attention, love and nourishment, they grow and change and are beautiful, they serve a purpose that God meant for them, those become nourishment for others, and in time, they may wither and die. But the most important thing they learn is just because it withered and went away and things were bare and ugly for a while, in the spring, something new comes forth, it’s a new season a new day. God’s hand is still there and working even when you don’t see it in the winter. God uses us to tend to things, but He really does the growing. My husband loves to garden. When the mild weather hits, he just needs to go “turn some earth”. My son is now seven and he loves doing things with dad, I hope they always have gardening in common. A lot of wisdom comes forth spending time in the garden. I think kids need to know not only where food comes from, but also how God made it possible for them to feed their own family should they need to one day. They need to know that they can grow a given fruit or vegetable and the plant will give them an abundance of seeds to be able to grow and share even more next season. They need to know the taste of what’s fresh out of the garden. Things aren’t always “fresh” and taste very good in the produce section of the grocery store. We’ve kind of gotten used to the “hit or miss” of that, but our children should know what a “fresh” tomato tastes like, corn picked fresh and then steamed. A plum, strawberry, blueberry fresh off the tree or bush just when it is ripe. My husband grew up in the citrus orchards of Yuma, AZ and I’ve never tasted anything as sweet and delicious as a fresh orange or grapefruit picked from the tree. I walked around a whole afternoon, just holding and smelling the wonderful smell of a fresh grapefruit and boy was the taste different than what was in the grocery store! Not bitter but sweet. I’m excited to read your book. I’m hoping our gardening can truly become a family affair. I wish you the best of blessings and luck with your book.
Hi! I just found you on facebook and “liked” you. Gardening (and garden crafting) with children is so important in so many ways. First off, I’m a firm believer in, “God made dirt, so dirt dont hurt”. That is to say, connecting to the soil and really getting your hands into Gods creations is a wonderful meditative way to connect with your higher power. Second, in this world of video games, television, iphones and whatnot, gardening is a fantastic way to get your kids out into the sunshine to soak up some all important vitamin D.
As a single mother of 4, myself, gardening is my way of connecting with my children. Of getting them working and talking with me. It seems when our hands are in the dirt, we open up to each other. We’ve already begun our plans for this years garden.
I love gardening and it was something I tried to empress my children and grand children about and now I try to include my great grandchildren. My grandfather ,mother and a special uncle taught me gardening and I want this newest generation to know the joy and happiness and beauty found in a garden. It is the best destresser I know. I also think in this tight and stess filled world we live in today gardening on a personal level will become more and more important like it was in my young days. I think this book will be a great bridge between generations Thanks for writing it
Involving our little ones in gardening is a sure step to growing tomorrow’s gardeners and protectors of our earth. From the peaks into your Project Garden that I’ve seen on the blog Little House in the Suburbs, you foster that joy of nature in children and their parents and grands, too! I want to see more! I want to do more! I want to do all I can to raise two more gardeners in the family!
I want to return to old-fashioned fun with children. There is too much hyped-up techno-craziness which elevates the excitement level to explosion. I love the way children can put their hands in the cool earth, can notice its composition and that it has life-giving substance. I love for them to see the miracle when you put a seed in the ground and water it and watch God give it the sunshine and then the wonder of the little green shoots poking through, so delicate and yet so sure that they want to risk it all and grow, and then the joy of biting into a fresh home-grown vegetable. It just draws you closer to God. It gives you a thankful heart. It renews this generation to the ones through the ages who always knew how fortunate they were when God gave the rain and the sunshine and the soil to grow our blessings…and on…and on… I could go.
We are all lacking Vitamin D and kids spend too much time inside playing video games and watching TV. Gardening is a good reason to get outside in the sunshine. There’s also something healing about being outside with green things and getting your hands dirty in some real dirt! I’ll like you on FB. Thanks!
Gardening with my brood has always been a rewarding experience for us all…and on so many levels! It gives us some time to be together in the great outdoors and it’s often a nice break from our homeschooling lessons. It allows us to learn about God’s world, close up and personal (there is nothing like learning about science with your hands in the dirt!
. They learn that their hard work and efforts can provide for themselves, those they love and even our neighbors! If they are hungry for a between meal snack, I can (with clear conscious) send them out to do a little grazing in the garden (fresh peas plucked from the vine are heads and shoulders above chips and cookies!). I think that virtually every good lesson in life can be learned in a garden.
We must garden with our children so that they know where food comes from. I love it that my three year old can spot broccoli florets so tiny that I didn’t even notice them. Gardening is an essential life skill.
I am a Nanny of 8. My grandchildren live in the city and I live in the country. They are put in front of the TV at an early age and play video games as soon as they are old enough to work the controls. I am about to get a new daughter-in-law and hope to change this with her help. I believe this book could help us get the children outside for fresh air and teach them in the process. I would very much appreciate a free copy of your book.
Thank you,
Kathy
My daughter and SIL both hate tomatoes. Last year I planted a large pot with cherry tomatoes and my 2 year old granddaughter fell in love with them immediately. I am so grateful for this as I cannot imagine life without tomatoes and now she loves them too! I would be thrilled to have this book in order to figure out more things to share with my GD and hope that she learns to be more creative along with me. Thank you
Our children learned so many things by growing things! The most important, I think, was patience…hard work, watering, weeding, staking…is all rewarded in the garden!
What a wonderfull looking book! I work in the parks and rec area and I am always teaching staff and educating others on the importance of nature play. Gardening is a great way to get kids out into nature. The entire process from start to finish just enhances their lives so much. It is a great reward to start with nothing and through care and love produce beautiful flowers, tasty treats or just lush vegetation! I garden with my own two girls and it is wonderful to see them learning while they play and explore.
I think it’s so important to know and participate in where their food comes from. Also, connection with nature is important for children.
Why do I think it’s important to garden with kids? Because it’s a vital life skill, they should know where their frood comes from. (Very important, especially for urban children who believe that food originates–at supermarkets!) It’s important to teach our children to garden when they’re small, so they don’t miss out on the amazing wonders inherent to nature, -so they can admire the lacy patterns in carrot tops, dew-decked spider webs, ladybugs, and praying mantids at their work. So they can watch green onions regenerate whole plants from only 1/2 inch bulb bottoms they’ve planted, so they can smell peppermint they pick for their tea, and learn to appreciate the work a bee does, as it flits from flower to flower. It gives them insight into the life-forces in nature, and teaches them natural laws, too. Foods (as most things) come from, and eventually, (in organic gardens, anyway) return to the garden. And if one wants to instill a sense of pride and accomplishment in their child(ren), which is as important to their child(ren’)s emotional growth as healthy produce is to their body’s growth, what better way to do it than to allow their child to experience their own ability to bring a quick-growing plant, (a beginner’s-type, such as a sunflower, snap -pea, radish, green onions from sets, calendula flower, swiss chard,etc) plant to maturity, from a seed or bulb?
What a fantastic book!! I think it’s important to garden with kids so they have a chance to get dirty once in a while, observe nature and how things grow, and to learn facts such as that carrots actually “come with a plant on top!”
There’s entirely too many things you can teach kids when you’re gardening with them. Not only that, but it’s something for you to do together and when the plants grow, your children can have a sense of accomplishment. And if you’re planting veggies, when you harvest them, they can truly enjoy the “fruits” of their labor.
I liked your page on Facebook. (Tracy Dunn-Kappes)
I think it is important to garden with my children cause it teaches them so many valuable life lessons. Where food comes from and how it grows, how to use it to make into preserves or free or can or dry it to provide for us when we can not grow things outside. How to work, and teaches them a great work ethic, it teaches them that it takes hard work to get food and to be satisfied with their work. It provides so many opportunities to teach them about God and how he provides for us and all the creatures here on earth.
I “liked” your facebook page. I am looking forward to reading this book. I think it is important to garden with your children or grandchildren because it teaches the next generation an important skill
As a new gardener I find myself entertaining all sorts of doubts and only trying things half heartedly fearing failure. I think when kids learn from an early age that they can do things or that others can do things – or even if they just see something being done – they’ll develop more confidence. i want my children to not fear the garden the way I do.
Gardening teaches kids patience and delayed gratification. Not to mention that it’s just plain fun!
So many reasons why kids should be in the garden. One in particular that comes to mind is that kids NEED dirt, on a physical, mental, emotional, spiritual level. I’m convinced of it. I read somewhere once that some kids have mineral deficiencies because they don’t get enough time in the dirt. Whether that’s true or not, I think kids need it most because it just feels right to get one’s hands dirty. Seriously, there are few things better than getting your hands dirty in the garden!
Ohhhhh….it can’t be spring soon enough! Thanks for the giveaway opportunity. If I don’t win, I’ll be picking up a copy soon!
I would love your book because I have recently become a den leader for a cub scout group (9 yr-olds) just for boys with autism. I’m always looking for outdoor projects to do with my grandson, and now with the den!
i garden with my kids so they can see that food doesnt just come from a store. they love picking lettuce and washing it off, my 3 yr old even loves to eat salads because of this. there is never anything lost, only things gained, by teaching kids(and yourself) how wonderful growing food can be!
Life’s lessons are learned in the garden. Kids are happier and healthier OUTSIDE!
I liked you on facebook, and I think it’s important to garden with kids so that they can learn to respect this earth and treat her the way she should be treated. Plus, I think that they’re more likely to be into eating their veggies if they’ve helped create them. My daughter is already begging to go out and pick peas. It’s a shame we’re not going to have any for a couple of months.
I believe it is important to garden with children for many reasons:
I think it deepens our connection with nature when we can feel it, smell it, taste not just look at it. Nature has so much to offer beyond its beautiful sights.
It’s important to know where our food comes from. Our food doesn’t come from a grocery store, it starts first in the farmers / gardeners hands. When we garden together children know how food is produced and they get the extra benefits of eating their accomplishments. Ohhh and the food has better nutrients for our little ones, it’s traveled less.
What a great way to spend time with your little ones, exploring, learning, eating, and connecting. Time spent outside in the fresh air and sunshine is so good for the body, mind and spirit. <3
I “like” your FB page. And I LOVE this idea. I adore gardening with my kids. We are apartment dwellers, but every year we container garden tomatoes and peppers from seed. As the fruits appear, my kids are blown away (me too!) by the amazing fact that we get to take a bite out of something that started out as a teeny tiny seed. Awesome!
Whether it’s planting seedlings and seeds, randomly digging (ideally not where I just planted seeds), harvesting food, watching bees and butterflies, or looking for beetles, gardening provides space for kids to connect with a rhythm that takes them out of the constructed, often hurried lives of school and their parents jobs and obligations. This real-time time is grounding and relaxing, something most of us need more of.
Time working together is time well spent. The kids get a feeling of accomplishment in their work, learn to work hard, and have a reward for their efforts.
I became a step-grandmother for the second time today at 3:13 AM — a granddaughter, the older one is 2 — and this seems like a perfect way to celebrate! I’m a Master Gardener who loves to garden but doesn’t have a clue of how to get little children involved, and this book looks like a treasure trove of great ideas! Getting the kids immersed in here-now-real-life outside, in natural settings — instead of the fallback virtual-screen-activities of TV watching, video games, videos, cell phone games and iPads — is perhaps the greatest gift we can give them about how life really works.
I just read about your book on Little House on the Suburbs and thought it looked great. I try to have a garden each year and enjoy having my five kids help out. The little ones love to dig in the dirt and they all love to plant the seeds or plants (usually all vegetables) and when it is time to pick the vegetables they all want to help. The watering is the only thing they don’t really want to help with. They don’t mind watering each other and everything else though. I would love to be able to add your projects as part of our outdoor exploration. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of your book and good luck!
I just discovered your blog! So fun! And I’d love to win your book, so here is why i think it’s important for kids to garden- that they know where real food comes from, that they gain a love for nature, beauty, and being outdoors, that it’s something that they can do with the family that is beneficial and productive- a life skill, and that they can get dirty:). So many benefits! Can’t wait to see all your fun ideas! Thanks!
I think it’s important to garden with kids so that they can share in making wise food choices.
I think it’s important to garden with kids to give them a sense of amazement….sometimes I think that we depend so much on the big things in the world to amaze and impress us and forget that watching a seed germinate and grow into something that we can then use to nourish and sustain us is pretty cool!
In the past 2 years I have started to cook all of our family’s food from scratch. My children have an understanding of why I don’t buy processed food. I also put it a garden so that we can all garden together for some of our food. This book looks like a wonderful addition to teaching them about gardening. I also homeschool and it looks like this book would help plan something for us to do each month.
I’m also helping a school plan a garden for the children to learn from and experience. I’d LOVE a copy of this book to help me.
I think gardening with children teaches them patience, gets them outside & active, most important is that it gets them away from the TV 7 video games. We had access to a lot behind us so my children were raised with chickens, ducks & geese so they learned about nature. They also learned how to pick the veggies & to tell when they were ripe. Now I would like to do it with my great grandchildren.
Kids who get a chance to “dig in the dirt” are the lucky children of this generation. Getting your fingers in the dirt gives you roots. With an understanding of gardening comes a respect for this planet Earth and that we must take care of it. And a project book with ideas for simple introductions to gardening, or what we can do with elements from the earth is a great way for parents and/or grandparents to spend time with their little loved ones. Thanks for the ideas!
I don’t have a blog but I will definitely “like” you on Face book
It is so important for children to learn where food REALLY comes from and growing it yourselves is a perfect way to do it. It also encourages kids to eat food that is healthier for them and will teach them to take better care of the Earth for future generations. And these are just the top three reasons I could think of. There are so many more!
This book is a great tool to teach the kids that veggies first start in the garden (not in the store). I think grandparents have more patience with questions from the kids and its a great bonding time to be able to do stuff with the kids and teach them as well. Hands on experience is a great teacher!
I grew up in IA and remember gardening with my dad – I cannot look a pansy in the face without remmebering his telling me how they were my grandpa’s favorite because of their smiles.
I have now relocated back to Iowa with my son and am itching for spring to start passing on some gardening memories with him. There will certainlty be pansies in at least a couple smiling variety.
A garden is were there is talk that otherwise does not happen. It is is it’s own reward. Children learn about nature and nurture. They gain confidence in the doing. It is a builder of character and kindness. It has been so good for my grandchildren and other children that come to our garden.
What a neat idea! My 4 year old and I are planning a garden together, but I’m new to it myself so who knows what we will end up with! I think gardening is important to kids because of all the practical life applications. Math–from measuring to figuring where you are in a growing period; success and failure as your plants thrive, or not; responsibility to your body and the environment…I could keep going!
Hi Stacy,
After growing up on a farm, where all of our fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat and entertainment came from as a kid – I know how important it is to see where our food comes from (No, not the supermarket), watch it grow, fall over full to brim with a belly full of blood plums, eat every third bean that you pick for dinner and turn collecting eggs into a game. I look forward to sharing this with my nephews and future children.
P.S. I liked your facebook page too
I hope I’m not too late in the game. My children, ages 14,15 and 19 still need to learn about where food comes from and I think this book would really help. the projects look simple but fun and would still engage my boys. I love gardening and want to share this experience with my kids. Thanks for listening. Would love to get a copy of this book!
I’m trying to teach my kids the journey of seed to table. To get them excited about not only succeeding in gardening but how to learn from the failures, too. To enjoy the sunshine and the rain since they both play a part in fueling our bodies. To empower them with the ability to plan, execute, and feed themselves year round – things I’m still trying to learn myself and they’re, hopefully, learning with me.
In addition to kids knowing where their food comes from, they need to know how to provide for themselves. We do the Square Foot method and my kids love having their own plants to care for. Okay, they aren’t happy every time they have to care for them, but once the plants begin producing they are thrilled picking veggies for dinner. They have a wonderful sense of accomplishment sharing “their” produce with family and friends.
I am an avid gardener and ecology professor. Every time I am in my garden I marvel at how much we can learn about the living world in a garden. Because of the hands on and observation aspects of gardening it is really a great tool to engage kids in the natural world and teaches them so many important life skills. I think it is also essential that our children know where our food comes from, how it is grown and the ups and downs of growing your own food. The sterile grocery store environment with industrialized fruits and veggies that all look perfect is not realistic or sustainable. Kids need to know that it is not necessarily easy, that tomatoes are not all red and that the industrialized way is not necessarily the best and definitely not the most rewarding way to eat. So gardening has so much to teach but most of all it is just darn fun!
I am looking forward to the gardening season! I hope your book is successful, I would definitely love a copy and I now have a great gift idea for friends!
I am a master gardener with Penn State university. In becoing a master gradener you had to give a talk on something of gardening that interested you. I spoke on children and gardening. I researched many books on the topic. I would loved to have had yours at the time (7 years ago ; ) We raised 3 children on a small goat dairy farm and the grandchildren stll enjoy visiting the farm to get dirty ; ) with some of grandmas garden ideas.
I love gardening with my kids! It is fun to get out and play in the dirt, and it helps the kids’ immunity too. Jackjack and Little Peanut eat their veggies right off the vine sometimes. Yes, I try to get them washed off first but the little buggers are FAST!
Wow – lots of compition. I am really enjoying your blog emails. I don’t homeschool but I love to bring teaching moments into what ever I do with my son. We are very involved in our Boy Scout Troop and so to have easy projects all the boys could do would be great. If I don’t win, please let me know so I can either hook the library up for this book and check it out there or buy it myself. Thanks!
As a mom of two little children (1 and 3), I’m always looking for ways to spend time doing exciting, educational, and quality things with them. One thing that is extremely important to me is for them to grow up outside, loving the outdoors, nature, and working in the soil themselves. This book is pretty much perfect for me, and especially now that spring is coming and my 3-year-old is pretty stir-crazy from the winter, it’d be awesome! Thanks for having such a great giveaway!
why you think it’s important to garden with kids
It is important to garden with kids because it teaches them not only to appreciate where the food that they eat comes from but also becuse it teaches them that getting the food from seed to table is not immediate. It takes time and work, not to mention that it is an amazing opportunity to bond with your children. When I was a kid we had chickens and my mom was always growing something but now the kids don’t even know what a hamburger is made of. If there were a natural disaster most people would have no clue how to set up a garden let alone store what they grew. We need to culture self sufficiency in the next generation and instill a love for growing and using our own produce. Knowledge is a powerful thing and the ability to feed our families no matter what happens is a wonderful gift to pass on to the next generation.
I grew up gardening with my parents, and while it wasn’t always fun to pick rocks and pull weeds, it was always amazing to sit down to a whole meal that we had grown–green beans, corn, beets, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes. I always felt tremendously wealthy! Now that I have a garden and a 3-year-old of my own, it’s so fun to watch his astonishment when the seeds we’ve planted two weeks earlier begin poking out little sprouts. We work on counting as we plant, play in the dirt and learn that food comes from somewhere real, not just the grocery store. I know he won’t always enjoy the work as he grows older, but hopefully he’ll carry the lesson that work brings delicious rewards.
I’m a facebook fan and would LOVE to win your wonderful book!
The Master Gardening Club would love this for their reference library. Every spring/summer month, 8-times yearly, we take a program to the biggest Farmers Market in the community. Each program includes something for adults and a child-friendly program. We display excellent books like this one, and demonstrate from them. The adults seem to like the children’s programs better than their own!
any book that has to do with garden projects is great and new ideas are great because ive used all the old one mine and everyone elses. thanks for new ideas. marlene
It’s important to garden with kids so they are connected to the Earth & so they learn how to grow food.
I love for my kids to get dirty, to know where their food comes from, and to feel that sense of accomplishment from it. Plus it really makes us work together!
It’s easy………. In my garden this year we are working on a t-p type playhouse for our three grandsons. Pvc piping, some pole beans and wala….. Instant garden fun. Your one or two of a kind doing this for familys. Great idea Sounds like fun to me. Good luck with this
My daughter has just turned two and loves working in the garden with me. I think it is very important for a number of reasons. She gets to see the whole cycle, from the preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watering, harvesting and finally EATING. It also gets her used to different textures and that getting your hands dirty is not a bad thing. We also have a worm farm and her favourite thing is to feed the worms.
I hope that by starting early she will continue to love it as she gets older and that she would prefer to be outside rather than indoors.
oh yes, and I have “liked” your facebook page.
Kids need nature. Nature is brain food and soul food wrapped into one. There is a reason why our mothers always sent us outside when we were fighting. It wasn’t just to get us out of their hair! It was to bring us back to our equilibrium. That’s what nature does. And the backyard is the best place to show kids how fun, wonderful and nurturing nature can be. Thanks for this book that gets us out there!
It’s important for them to know where their food comes from, to make that connection. There’s also so much they can learn about science and nature through gardening. They can use it as an outlet, not only for physical health but emotional as well.
satsukirebel AT gmail DOT com
I also liked you on facebook.
satsukirebel AT gmail DOT com
I love this! I have been showing my grankids all the neat pics. I love showing them how to plant flowers and watch them grow. They need to learn things like this plus it is such a delite to do so. I had 3 boys and just one of all three loved doing stuff like this and he is 38 and still does. The other two does but they want someone to do it for them!LOL
I dont know if it showed up what I wrote but I enter all 4. But I love showing my grandkids how to plant and watch things grow. They get so excited. I had three boys and just 1 like to do it. The other 2 do but they want someone else to do it!LOL But it is so fun doing it with my granddaughters and relaxing.I have never won anything but I would be so thrill to win your book. I would buy but live on a low income so its hard for things. But so Glad you started this. My friends love it when I share with them then I get them to follow you.
Gardening with my 3 kids is just part of our every day life. They know how important the flowers and tomato plants are and they get just as excited about growing things like I do
We spend a lot of time outdoors in our yard, as our weather in AZ is amazing… We play in the dirt and we water everything in out flip flops so our feet can get wet. Just like my grandma taught me to garden, I am passing that down to my kids.
Woops forgot to tell you I am following you on FB now too!!
I like you on facebook! I love to garden with our grandchildren and look for fun new ideas to share with them!!
I became a fan on facebook, left a message about kids and gardening, can’t review as i have not see the book, and i am not sure how to blog. but i do love your site and will look for the book. I plan on spending much time on your site. Thanks for the chance to win your book.
My Garden group , the Garden Fairie’s of Pinellas County,Fla, adopted a middle school class from Tarpon Springs, Fla. With Fred Howard Park’s permission, the park gave us a plot of land for the project and we taught the class how to get the dirt ready, make the rows for the seeds, plant and tend to the garden. We also painted signs and markers. I look at gardening as a type of therapy, having a stressful job as a surgical nurse and also creative as well as physical activity. Middle school kids are going through a difficult time at that age so I think gardening is a therapy for them as well and these days they also need to stay physically active as well as creative. It was a win win for them as well as for the park and we had fun with it.
Garden is the best place for the kid to learn not only nature but also a lots of thing in their life.
Gardening is the best place where a kid can learn not only the nature but also a lots of thing.
I love gardening with my son- amazing to watch a tiny seed or seedling take off and produce bounty for the table. I think my favorites are pumpkins- because my birthday is Halloween! Thanks for the giveaway opp!
I would like to teach my girls about how they can grow their own food so they don’t think everything just comes from the grocery store.
I also “liked” your facebook page….
There are so many reasons to garden with children! I think its enormously important for children to see where food comes from. Being involved in growing it also makes them so much more open to eating it.There is nothing fresher or better tasting then right from the garden! I also think children really need some meaningful work in their lives. Gardening is fun but also provides that experience. What a wonder-filled opportunity for any child a garden is!
I’ve liked you on facebook as well!
Thanks for the chance to winn your book, it looks lovely!
I believe gardening teaches kids where the food comes from, and show them them that even the tiniest plants are living things needing nurturing and care.
I also liked your facebook page.
What a great concept – with a 2 yr. old in Montessori preschool, we always make sure to get plenty of ‘outside time’ in each day. Gardening with my little guy is so much fun! He’s learning all sorts of great things about nature, but it also helps with dexterity and (gasp!) patience.
Can’t wait to check out the book! {I’m posting here in addition to liking your FB page.}
I love collecting ideas to use when I visit my grandchildren and my favorite place to be with them is in the garden. Your book makes child play well, like child play! Easy kid friendly projects and materials = lots of memories and fun.
Recently, I created a new board on my Pinterest account that was set up to save ideas for time with my grandchildren so I immediately “pinned” your book on my bulletin board.
I also “liked” your facebook page and am looking forward to reading facebook posts this year.
Thanks!
Kids learn so much from gardening! Where food comes from, how plants grow, how to observe things closely, and responsibility and patience if you give them their own patch. It’s so exciting to see my daughter find a new bug or a ripe raspberry growing behind the lemon bush! She loves planting seeds, picking flowers and leaves, and watering plants (even if, at 4, she’s still not very good at it).
I think it is important to garden with kids for so many reasons: first, they see how much goes into nurturing a plant to maturity (fruit or flower), they get outdoors, they are allowed to get dirty, and they get to SLOW DOWN for a while and just enjoy life.
Gardening teaches so much to children: math (counting out seeds), nature and of course, shows where food really comes from. Plus it a wonderful opportunity for parents and grandparents (like me!) to work together side-by-side.
Man oh man I wanna win this. I love the sneak peak of the book, seems like something I would love to read. This is my 2nd year of gardening and I am in love, My son loves to help me dig hole, we enjoy being outside spending time together, growing true organic foods. I also headed to your Facebook and I blogged about you. Really hope I win. Happy gardening!
Gardening is a great way to build stronger relationships with our children and teach them how to grow their own food! ;0)
I also liked you on FB.
I’ve been planning to host some junior gardener play dates at our house and I’m sure your book will have some fun activities for us:)
I grew up on a large working cattle farm. Every spring my mom would plant a HUGE vegetable garden that would produce enough food for our family and my grandparents so that we would not have to buy vegetables all year. I loved getting out in the garden and working it and watching it produce the vegetables that I gained a huge love of food and could not wait to eat what we grew. Now that I am a parent, I love to get my sons outside and in the garden so that one, that know where they came from and appreciate all the farming and gardening techniques that have been passed down and two, there are very few vegetables that my kids don’t eat.
Three years ago I re-awoke the garden at my son & daughter’s school. It has been a huge task, but incredibly rewarding. Starting seeds all the way to canning the kids are always amazed where their food comes from & how it’s prepared. Several children have learned so much from the little things I been able to show & teach them that they have then gone back home to share the experiences with their family and started their gardens.
It’s important for kids to know where their food comes from to learn to make healthy choices. This year I plan on having several smaller theme gardens like a pizza garden, ( w/ tomatoes, peppers, onions, basil) & a salad bar garden ( lettuce, radishes, carrots, cukes) so they know what makes a meal.
We have a volunteer reading tutoring program in our school called Oasis and all the tutors are excited to have their session in the school garden this season and I’m happy to have them. The Alt teacher & his students will be building a bench for those to sit and enjoy.
I`’m always looking for new ideas to help keep gardening interesting & fun to keep the kids wanting to know more.
I think it’s important kids learn where their food comes from. It’s also a great way to get them to spend time outdoors “playing” with their parents.
How fun! I remember gardening as a kid and playing outdoor a lot, and I really think that was the seed for the gardener and nature-lover I am today. My kids have their own little plot, and they have so much fun! They get to see how seeds grow into plants, and they get to pick the strawberries from the plants they tended. Gardening is full of lessons for kids, and teaches them in a fun way!
I love gardening with my daughter because I get to teach her where our food comes from and how amazing it is that we can grow it! She loves to water the plants, play in the dirt and hold worms. We also get to prepare meals together with our bounty.
guess you havent done the drawing yet….i would LOVE this book. I already garden with my kids, mostly because I want them to know where their food comes from and to be able to produce some of their own food. Liked you on facebook as well
Would love to review the book after I win lol.
I have spent two years gardening with 50 different kids, I used to think that what was best about gardening with them is the way their relationship to nature develops the more time they spend caring for a place, a plant, a garden, but now I equally appreciate what the experience does for the adult involved. I think they have taught me more than I have taught them. I no longer feel driven to accomplish huge amounts when working with them but instead, have learned to respect their need to spend time digging for worms, taking mental pictures of frost on spider’s webs and eating kale flowers.
I love this idea book. I am a crafty grandma with 7 grandbabies and would love love a copy of this book. The string bird house and gardening ideas are right up my alley. Thank you for creating such a awesome book. Even if I’m not one of the ten, which I hope to be, these may be what I buy some of my grandma friends for Birthday or Christmas gifts.
I love gardening. My grandfather, mother and a special uncle taught me about this wonderful hobby . I tried to share it with my children, grandchildren and now I’m trying to share it with my great grandchildren. It is the best destresser I know of. I believe in these tough and stressful times today gardening will become more and more important in the present as well as the future on a personnel level. I think it is a wonderful experience to share this great hobby with children as it provides so many benefits for them and for you and I think this book will provide many happy hours learning about this hobby and be a bridge between generations Thanks for writing it
What a beautiful way to encourage parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. to bond with their children! It, also, helps children to appreciate God’s magnificent creation. Thanks for an opportunity to win a copy of your lovely book.
It’s important for kids tobe connected to where their food comes from, and it’s fun, too, to have so personal a connection. It teaches patience, self-sufficiency and creativity. Great stuff!
It is imperative that kids know where the food comes from, and gardening is the best way! We need to be participants rather than just consumers. I loved gardening with my kids when they were little. My daughter loved to grow tomatos, although she didnt like to eat them!
They each got a little 4×4 bed to themselves and it made a difference in how they viewed “yard work”. Good luck with your book it sounds awesome 