In celebration of Earth Day, we asked @ashleighbyrne, mama of 3 and garden consultant from Atlanta, GA, for her pro tips on getting your kids involved with gardening and other outdoor activities! Plus, download your own Earth Day Bingo Board full of fun Earth Day tips for the kids here!
Ashleigh's Tips for Growing Mini Gardeners:
"Give your children their own space to garden. It doesn't have to be big, just an area where they can explore and dig. I also love creating a sensory garden filled with various herbs, plants that have texture, like lambs ear where they can smell, touch, and clip things. Some of my other favorite things to grow with kids are snap peas, zinnias and lettuce. They are easy to grow and they grow fast. Take your kids to a garden center and let them help pick some plants out. The more you make them feel involved and that it's their space too; the more they will be inclined to dig in the dirt too."
Other Ways to Get Kids Outside (and off their tablets!):
"Have simple activities for your kids to do outside that don't involve you helping very much. I feel like the less I intervene, the more involved/creative they get with the process."
- chalk
- painting, I like to put a big roll of paper out on the driveway, paint and brushes out and see what they create.
- fairy houses, have them collect things from nature to create a fairy house. My kids love making these.
- scavenger hunt for things outside
- bring a basket of nature books outside with a picnic blanket/snack
- bird watching and a notebook for them to draw what birds they see
- tools for digging in the garden and the dirt
- leaf and flower hunt to make nature crowns
