Gift ideas for young gardeners
If you are looking for holiday gift-giving ideas for children, consider introducing them to the benefits and joys of gardening. These gift ideas are appropriate for young gardeners of all ages and abilities.
Prepare children of all ages for outdoor gardening and enjoyment in the landscape with proper clothing and accessories.
A hat affords protection on a sunny day. Choose one made of straw, cotton, or polyester with a chinstrap and a brim wide enough to cover a large portion of the face, ears and neck.
A bottle or tube of sunscreen protects the skin and makes a fun stocking-stuffer.
Child-sized gloves shield little hands from dirt, prickly plants and jagged stones. Gloves come in an array of styles and fabrics, from printed cotton to durable leather. Children may benefit from gloves with a latex coating on the fingers and palms to provide a better grip on hand tools.
Colorful rubber boots or clogs that are easy to put on and remove are a must, especially when made of materials that can be hosed off after a day of activity in a garden landscape.Children enjoy using a real-life version of adult gardening tools. Sturdy, well-made garden gear that they can call their own is well worth the price.Look for hardwood handles and metal parts. Steer clear of cheap, flimsy, plastic tools made for play or make-believe. Because metal is sharp, supervision is needed with these tools until the child is capable of using them properly.If your gardener is 3 to 5 years of age, their tool sizes should be in a range of 31 inches to 37 inches. Elementary-aged children can transition to implements that are 41 inches to 45 inches in size.A well-equipped gardener would need a hoe, garden or yard rake, shovel, and a set of hand tools. A wheelbarrow or small wagon can tote tools, plants, seeds and soil.
Give the child a rain gauge so he or she can measure the rainfall as well as a small watering can for giving thirsty plants a drink.In addition to gardening tools and clothing, involve older children in gardening and nature through interactive learning opportunities. Incorporate cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (doing) and feeling (affective) learning into their gifts.While the doing aspect of the gift will have to wait for warm weather, the learning and appreciating occur during the winter months.For example, offer a gift of raising monarch butterflies. This gift includes a book on raising butterflies (cognitive learning), a mesh pop-up caterpillar cage, source of milkweed and monarch larvae to feed (psychomotor learning), and an ongoing dialogue about the importance of raising monarchs (affective learning).Another idea is to raise native bees, who are gentle, fun to watch and wonderful pollinators. Offer a guide on raising solitary bees (cognitive learning). Purchase a backyard bee house with hollow reeds or tubes for nesting and egg laying and pollinator-friendly plants; assemble the house in the warm weather and watch the bees in action (psychomotor learning). Discuss the importance of native bees to our environment (affective learning).For the budding entomologist, give a field guide on insects, a butterfly net, clean plastic containers for temporary homes, and a magnifying glass. Let them identify all the insects, both beneficial and pest, that fly and crawl in the yard and garden.For children interested in ecology and the environment, encourage their interest by giving them a book on gardening with native plants and allowing them to select some native perennials and shrubs at a local nursery for planting in their own backyard. Field trips to public gardens and preservation areas allows children to experience the outdoors first-hand.While toddler-age children may become bored or distracted with gardening, they always enjoy playing in the soil. Offer toys that promote imagination, creation and movement. For example, plastic toy trucks and excavators are great for moving the earth.Pots and pans, bowls and muffin tins are useful for making delectable mud pies, while buckets and shovels shape the earth into castles and forts. During the winter months, offer garden and outdoor-related coloring books, paints, markers and the like. Age-appropriate books about gardening, the environment, nature and the outdoors engage young gardeners' interests during the winter months.Gifting children with their own personal gardening tools and activities for discovering the natural world offers them feelings of accomplishment, enjoyment and appreciation.What better way is there to pry them away from their electronic devices and introduce them to the healthy hobby of gardening into their enjoyment of the outdoor environment?
Mary Reefer is a Penn State Extension Master Gardener in Butler County.
