Choosing Children's Garden Tools

If you’ve never tried gardening with your child, you’re missing out on a wonderful experience. Children are excited and curious about the little growing things in the world, and there numerous vital lessons to be learned from a garden. There are even many children growing up who have no clue where our food supply comes from. Spend a little time, buy the right children’s garden tools, and even though they’ll have a good time, they’ll be learning a lot, too.

The cheap, plastic garden tools on the market are fine for toddlers. However, when your child gets to be school aged, he’s old enough to start learning to be a real gardener. That’s when it’s essential to provide him with the right tools to make the experience pleasurable for him. Imagine trying to garden with a 10’ shovel or rake, and a bushel-sized watering can, and that will give you some idea what it’s like for a child trying to use adult-sized tools. Instead of learning to love gardening your child will only become discouraged unless you give him the right tools for the job.

The key to making a child want to learn to garden is by making it fun for him. With the wrong tools, he’ll only feel awkward and incapable. To get him started the right way, have the ground tilled and just about ready to go before he goes out to garden. The first things you’ll want to teach him are the basics of raking the ground smooth, spacing and planting seeds, and watering. As he grows up, you can begin adding other, more difficult tasks.

What Tools Should You Buy?

Start with the basics when buying children’s gardening tools for your child. He will need a hoe, a rake, a spade, something to measure with, child-sized gloves, and a watering can. You can find a wealth of websites online that not only offer great tips for gardening with a child, but they also sell lines of quality gardening tools that are sized just right for a child of 5-8 years. These tools include forged metal heads attached to hardwood handles. They will stand up to any reasonable task your child uses them for, and they’ll last long enough to be handed down.

Choose carefully when selecting a watering can for your child. He can help you pick it out, but he’ll pick the one he’ll think looks coolest, not necessarily one the size he can handle. Don’t be tempted into making him use your watering can. Even a moderate-sized plastic can will be very heavy when filled with water. Buy a can which is the right size for your child to manage with ease. The job will cease to be fun if he’s expected to lug heavy cans around.

Even though it isn’t completely necessary at this point, a wheelbarrow can be a lot of fun for your child to use, especially if you use one yourself. You can find inexpensive instructions for building your own small wheelbarrow, and your child can help you build it. He will really enjoy working on a woodworking project side by side with you. In the end he’ll be very proud of what you’ve both accomplished.

Make sure you provide him with his own special storage area where he can keep his tools. You can show him how to clean them thoroughly after each use and then put them away where they belong. Not only will you be helping him learn to garden, but you’ll be reinforcing good habits which will stay with him all his life.