A small piece of garden that belongs to them can give children a reason to spend more time outside. It does not need to be a large vegetable patch. A raised bed, a few pots or even one corner of the garden can be enough for them to plant, water and see what happens.

Choosing what to grow can be part of the fun. Strawberries, cherry tomatoes, radishes and peas are good options because children can eventually pick and eat them. Sunflowers, nasturtiums and other easy flowers add colour and give them something different to look after.

Children can be involved from the beginning. Filling pots with soil, planting seeds and watering are all simple jobs that allow them to participate instead of watching an adult do everything.

Gardening also involves waiting. A seed planted today may take weeks before it becomes recognisable and even longer before there is something to harvest. Checking the garden regularly makes those small changes easier to notice.

Not everything will grow successfully. Seeds may fail, insects may eat leaves and a forgotten watering can quickly affect a plant during warm weather. That does not make the project unsuccessful. There is always an opportunity to plant something else and try again.

Having their own tools can make children feel more involved. A small watering can, gardening gloves and tools suited to their size are usually enough. Old clothes and boots are equally useful when soil and water are involved.

The garden can also become a place for small discoveries that have little to do with gardening itself. Worms appear when digging, butterflies visit flowers and birds arrive looking for food. What begins with planting a few seeds can easily lead to an interest in what else lives in the garden.

At the end of the season, there may be tomatoes for lunch, flowers to pick or a handful of strawberries to eat straight from the plant. For children, being able to use something they have grown themselves can be one of the best parts of having a garden of their own.

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