Garden Design with Kids

You know how much I love outdoor play, getting kids in the garden is super important. This year I decided it was time to teach my kids about garden design. After all, we have shared how to make a home garden with the kids and you need a good design before you can get started.

Creative Garden Design Activity for Kids

clipboard
paper
tracing paper or parchment paper
pencil
pencil crayons

Really the first step to growing a successful garden is designing the garden on paper first. Deciding what to put into a garden and laying it all out will help a gardener choose the best possible plants, and the proper position for those plants, for the garden. Now, for a 7 year old I made it all about the fun of dreaming about whatever garden she wanted...putting whatever she could imagine into our little garden.

First, I drew the layout of our front yard garden on a piece of white heavy stock paper and placed it in a clipboard.

clipboard with sheet of tracing paper drawn over a diagram of garden

Next, I placed a piece of tracing paper over the card stock...this way my daughter could make as many versions of the garden as she liked. If you don't have any tracing paper, use a piece of parchment paper instead.

child drawn garden design on tracing paper over drawing of garden designs

Then the fun part. My daughter created her garden.

child illustration of things to add to the garden design

It is important in garden design to also include a legend that explains what each item in the garden actually is. That way, you don't need to write words on the actual garden design, only the symbols.

This activity tied in nicely with my daughter's schoolwork; right now, they are learning about mapping. They have been learning about identifying landmarks in our neighbourhood and creating 2-dimensional drawings of our home and the streets around where we live.

I love her ideas for the garden, especially the idea of including a bookcase in the garden...perfect. Now, it's my turn to design the garden. The great part is that we can now sit down together and create the actual design for our garden. What will our garden look like in the end? Only time will tell.

What will your child put in the garden they design?

plant a storybook vegetable garden with kids

Today's post is part of the Planting with Kids Blog Hop, so if you are looking for more fabulous ways to get your kids into the garden please hop around the other participating blogs. Whether it's spring or fall where you live, the garden is a fun place to be.

* The Usual Mayhem * Child Central Station * Housing a Forest * Rainy Day Mum * Fantastic Fun and Learning * Kitchen Counter Chronicles * Teach Preschool * Kindergarten and Preschool for Parents and Teachers * The Fairy and the Frog * Let The Children Play * Little Illuminations * Early Play Outdoors * 52 Days to Explore * Music Sparks * Milk and Cuddles * Teach Beside Me * The Pleasantest Thing * Making Boys Men * I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here *