Plant the seed of a lifelong hobby: Children’s gift ideas

Are you looking for children’s gift ideas that will nurture new skills, encourage learning and stimulate interest in the environment and nature? Why not pop down to your local garden centre and discover imaginative ways to get young people engaged with plants, soil, and garden wildlife?

Gardening is a hobby that cannot be underestimated for its power to promote curiosity, relieve stress, encourage a love of the outdoors and even support healthy eating. The joy of gardening is that it isn’t dependent on having access to acres of land. In fact, it’s perfectly possible to grow and enjoy plants indoors.

Let’s look at a selection of great gifts for young gardeners

Indoor gardening gifts for children

The younger a person is, the less likely they are to want to wait to see the results of their labour. So, if you’re gifting at Christmas time, the chances are that the under-10’s will be reluctant to wait until spring time to start gardening

Great gifts for impatient youngsters include an Amaryllis bulb, perhaps with a pot holder that they can decorate themselves. Amaryllis bulbs can be planted indoors in winter time and usually spring into life within a month of being watered and exposed to the light. The large, flamboyant plants grow quickly and soon develop colourful and exciting flowers.

For even speedy results that will (hopefully) encourage healthy eating, you could gift your young recipient the seeds and equipment they need to grow micro-greens. Cress is the traditional choice for speedy indoor seeding, but don’t overlook the joys of kale, broccoli, coriander, radish, fennel and beet for introducing new flavours. Come to think of it, micro green growing kits would make a great stocking filler for adults as well as children.

Getting Creative with Houseplants

Houseplants make magnificent gifts for children. Especially if you gift them vouchers so that they can choose their own. Why not consider investing in a terrarium and spend an afternoon with your young giftee selecting plants, rocks and accessories to arrange within its walls? Imaginative youngsters may want to build a fairy garden, a mini dinosaur world or even an extra terrestrial space scene.

Crafty Gardening Gifts for Children

When it’s the wrong time of year to spend lots of time gardening outdoors, indoor crafting can prepare everyone for the growing season. It’s educational, inspirational, creative, and best of all, it happens in real life - not on a screen.

Most garden centres stock a range of materials that can be used for gardening crafts. Terracotta pots can be decorated with acrylic paints (you may need to prime the pot first), or, you can use grout and colourful small stones to make a mosaic around the pot.

Plant labels can be prepared in advance of seed sowing time by decorating pre-made labels, or by adapting items such as wooden spoons.

If you are gifting a gardening craft, try to include everything your recipient might need to complete their creation. That way their enthusiasm will know no bounds. Alternatively, for older children, you could create a package including the craft instructions, a list of things to buy and a National Garden Gift Card to cover the cost. That way you are gifting an educational shopping trip as well as a crafty afternoon.

Children’s Gardening Gifts to Encourage Outdoor Activity

We all associate gardening with being outdoors and there’s no healthier place to be! Science suggests that soil has remarkable mood boosting powers . With all the stresses of growing up in the modern world, getting their hands dirty is a good way to help children feel better about life.

Garden centres offer lots of tools, equipment and outdoor living supplies to help children make the most of their outdoor spaces. Your job as gift-giver is to help youngsters to get started on their gardening adventure.

Gifts and activities of course need to be age appropriate. For little ones, it’s important to bear in mind that speedy results are key. They may not have the patience to wait three months to eat the carrots they’ve just sown.

Young children use their senses to learn about the properties of everything around them. They love digging in the dirt, seeing what happens when it’s mixed with water, driving their toys through the mud and generally getting sticky.

Great gardening gifts for preschoolers include tiny gardening gloves, child-sized hand tools, little wheelbarrows and/or trolleys, pots, trays and watering cans. At the same time, you might want to supply their carers with gentle soap, towels, and floor washing liquid - they’re going to need them!

Once school begins, children start exploring their world in a slightly more cerebral way. Hopefully they will still love getting their hands dirty, as now is a good time to introduce the principals of growing and nurturing plants.

Seeds and part-grown plants make great gifts for young gardeners. Young plants may not be available in time for Christmas gifting, but a National Garden Gift Card can defer your gift and give something to look forward to in spring time.

A small tree is also a wonderful gift for a child or young person. It can grow with them and will live in their memories throughout their whole life. Trees make awesome christening gifts. Tip: Trees in pots do need a little more care than those planted into the ground - but they can withstand house moves.

As a child grows, they will be better able to let you know what tools, equipment, design features and plants they need to nurture their hobby. The present of a National Garden Gift Card and a few hours of your time spent with them in the garden centre will not only be a great bonding experience, it will help to develop their relationship with nature.

Looking for things to inspire children’s gift ideas, why not visit the Children’s Gardening Week website where you’ll find activities for all ages and all seasons of the year.

Find out more information: https://www.childrensgardeningweek.co.uk/fun-things-to-do/