We can’t quite believe it, but it’s almost time for the summer holidays. Six long weeks for children to enjoy and for you to find things for them to do!
And what better way to keep them entertained than with some summer holiday gardening fun? Things are getting more and more expensive, so we’ve come up with a list of fun-filled gardening activities that you can do with your children that won’t cost the earth.
Paint plant pots
If you want a really simple gardening activity that’s also a lot of fun, grab your old plant pots and give them a face lift. You could opt for bright, bold colours to give your garden a splash of vibrancy or you could get arty and paint them in geometric patterns, leaves and wordsusing stencils or freestyle and paint them with wildlife pictures or anything you fancy really.
Cuprinol Garden Shades is a fantastic range of paint that you can use on wood, terracotta, brick and stone (we’ll be honest, we’ve used it on plastic tubs and pots too and it goes on great) to achieve any look you like this summer for your pots.
If you need a little inspiration, we’ve included a link to a great Pinterest board to help you get your imagination going.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/zazu71/painted-flower-pots/
Make a fairy or dinosaur garden
You can use anything you can find that will hold some soil for a fairy or dinosaur garden – barrels, old plant pots, tubs, buckets or a tree stump – whatever you can find.
Fill your container with soil and choose some cheap bedding plants or herbs – you can choose whatever you want here. Next, grab some coloured stones (medium to small is best) to create paths for your fairies or dinosaurs. If you’ve got any large rocks lying around these make great hiding places for your dinosaurs, so you can pop them in close to the plants.
Some people get creative and create miniature ponds using blue stones or you could create a volcano and use red stones (with the help of a bit of glue) coming down the side of a large rock and into the container.
Whatever you choose to do, you can use all sorts of items from around the garden and home to create miniature features. You could make small chairs from matchsticks or twigs, rockery areas using small stones and fairy doors from lolly sticks. You could even include some solar powered fairy lights for an extra splash of magic.
Have a go!
Make a worm farm
If you’ve got kids who like to get their hands dirty then a worm farm will keep them entertained for hours and it’s a great way for you to use your vegetable peelings. Again, you can use most types of container (an old ice cream tub, a glass jar or polystyrene or show boxes) but they need to have drainage holes at the bottom and allow air in at the top.
Using layers of soil, then sand, and repeating until it’s two thirds full pour in your potato peelings or any other veg peelings you have (you can use overripe fruit and tea leaves as well). Add some leaves and a few twigs from the garden and cover, then go hunting for some worms!
Once you have some, add them to your worm farm and cover with something that will make it dark (a piece of cardboard or a dark tea towel will work) but remember to keep the air holes free. It needs a cool dark place outside and a little water every day.
Your children will have plenty of fun checking back to see what the worms are up to and if you create it in a clear container, they’ll be able to see the worms squiggling and burrowing under the soil too.
Here’s a few more ideas to help keep things affordable and fun this summer holiday:
Stone painting
Chalk paving painting
Create a miniature sand pit
Make bird seed cakes
Make a bee hotel
Organise a treasure hunt
If you need any more inspiration then take a look at our previous lockdown gardening blogthat has more ideas for fun gardening activities with your children.
Wishing you a fun-filled summer holidays!
The Prince Garden & Landscapes Team.