Gardening can be a great way of spending quality time together. This is especially true of shared projects, where the whole family gets involved. When entrusted with responsibility for a task, and suitable tools (which always make great gardening gifts for budding horticulturalists of all ages), children almost always respond positively.

Although it certainly has its fair share of laborious, but essential chores, be careful not to offload these onto the kids. It can be tempting, for both parties, to enter into a garden chores-for-cash arrangement too, but this is likely to have your children lose interest quickly. There are an equal number of challenges and projects which, upon completion, offer rewards in themselves, and these are far more likely to engage and fire young, imaginative minds.

From the youngest age, all children relish digging and playing around in the muck, from soil in the garden, to sandcastles on the beach. This is the perfect introduction to the gardening world! Endeavour to find an area that can act as an exclusive and#147;sandboxand#148; for the kids, or encourage them to mess around in newly dug areas before they are planted.

All young children learn by imitating adults. Providing them with their very own gardening tools allows them to get involved with the same activities as the adults, and also gives them something uniquely theirs to treasure.

Cultivating plants from seed is an elementary task for many gardeners and a perfect starting point for children in the garden. Sowing and growing allows young children to control their own micro-project, whilst enabling them to gain insight into the circle of life and witness the effect of their attentions on a day-by-day, leaf-by-leaf basis.

Ladybirds are a perennial favourite of children and adult gardeners alike. Many kids have an affinity with animals of all shapes and sizes, and exploring the greenery in search of insects is a popular pastime. Some of these can be collected, identified, and released (with the possible exception of pesky vine weevils!).

Keeping a list of birds that visit the garden, and their activities whilst there, is a good alternative. The definitive garden biosphere is the garden pond and#150; the sheer volume and variety of creatures that call it home is astonishing, and a source of wonder to even the most jaded of tots.

Encourage your children to track their creations progress and#150; they could measure, or even draw them, at each stage of growth. Stick with fast germinating, quick flowering annuals for the most immediate results (best for short attention spans).

Terracotta pots take paint very well and are easily decorated. A great method of getting creative in the garden is to encourage children to decorate and then plant their own containers. Decorations can be painted, glued or tied. Shells, seed-cases, leaves, paint, sand and stones are just a few of the possible materials than can be experimented with. Take the children along to a nursery or garden centre, allocate them a small budget, and select something suitable to plant.

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