Gardening Activities for Toddlers

Gardening with your little one isn’t just about growing plants – it’s a sensory, educational, and wildly fun adventure. See this list of fun Gardening Activities for Toddlers to get them excited to grow their own plants.

If you love everything about spring, check out these amazing Fun Spring Activities for Kids!

Toddlers are at a prime age for learning through play, and the outdoors offers boundless opportunities to explore. I’ll give you some gardening-related ideas that are perfect for your tiny gardener.

Gardening is a metaphor for life, teaching patience, resilience, and hard work in the most literal of senses.

Here’s how you can instill these values early, helping your toddler flower into a well-rounded individual with these fun Gardening Activities for Toddlers!

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Patience is a Plant

Growing from a seed can feel like the world’s slowest magic trick to a toddler. But each day, if you water, care, and watch, that magic is happening – leaves are unfurling, roots are reaching.

Teach your toddler that good things come to those who wait with this lesson in patience.

Making Memories

Create a ‘memory book’ or journal of your gardening adventures. Stick photos, samples of leaves or flowers, and scribbled toddler notes about what they’ve learned.

Not only does this preserve memories, but it also teaches children to value the experiences they’ve had and the growth they’ve achieved.

The Harvest Helper

When it’s time to pick your produce, toddlers can be useful harvest helpers. Teach them the concept of ‘ripe’ and ‘ready’ as they pick tomatoes, strawberries, or snap peas – it’s a lesson in responsibility and the rewards of hard work.

Recommended Spring Books for Toddlers

Read and experience the spring season with these awesome books for young learners.

Get them excited to grow their own plants and discover more about this season of growth and new beginnings.

Spring is Here: A Bear and Mole Story Lola Plants a Garden (Lola Reads)I See Spring Little Blue Truck’s Springtime Planting a Rainbow A Little Book About Spring (Leo Lionni’s Friends)

Recommended Spring Toys for Toddlers

If you’re looking for fun and educational toys for your kids this spring, try these hands-on toys. Spring is the season when flowers bloom and butterflies go from flower to flower feeding on the nectars, and these toys are just perfect for this season!

Kenley Counting Ladybugs -Montessori Counting Toys for Toddlers -Wooden Educational Learning Toy for Girls&Boys 3 4 5 Year Old – Learn Numbers&Develop Fine Motor Skills -Math Preschool Kids Activity CPSYUB Toddler Toys, 18 Month Toys, Easter Eggs Learning Toys for 1, 2, 3 Year Old Girls / Boys, Montessori Matching Eggs Educational Color & Shape Recognition Skills Gifts Toys BPA Free (12 Eggs)AOJOYS Montessori Toys Baby Easter Toys for Toddlers 1-3 Years Old, Educational Wooden Carrot Toys Shape Size Sorting Matching Puzzle, Great Baby Easter Gifts Birthday Gift Toys Lydaz Bubble Lawn Mower for Toddlers, Kids Bubble Blower Maker Machine, Summer Outdoor Push Toys, Valentines Day Birthday Gifts Easter Basket Stuffers Toys for Preschool Baby Boys Girls FUNZBO Flower Garden Building Toys for Girls – STEM Toy Gardening Pretend Gift for Kids – Stacking Game for Toddlers playset – Educational Activity for Preschool Children Age 3 4 5 6 7 Year Old Boys Learning Resources Poppy the Count & Stack Flower Pot – 15 Pieces, Fine Motor Skills Toys for Toddlers, Preschool Toys, Ages 18+ Months

More Spring Activities

Goopy Grass Sensory Play
Spring Sensory Bin
Fizzy Treasure Rocks
Garden Scavenger Hunt Printable on Homeschool of 1
Life Cycle of a Flower Hat on Homeschool Preschool

www.livinglifeandlearning.com

How to Plant Flowers with Your Kids

Get outside and learn how to plant flowers with your kids and give them a love of the outdoors while you put those screens away.

www.redtedart.com

How To… Get Started on a Recycled Container Garden

Transform everyday household items into a vibrant, recycled container garden, sparking both creativity and sustainability in your little gardener’s heart.

www.messylittlemonster.com

Growing Cress Heads

Watch your toddler's excitement bloom as they craft and nurture their very own Cress Heads, a simple yet magical introduction to the world of gardening.

myboredtoddler.com

Planting Seeds with Toddlers

Planting seeds with toddlers turns tiny moments into big discoveries, providing a hands-on way to teach them about the cycle of life right from the start.

www.kcedventures.com

Easy Pot Painting Idea for Kids

For a splash of creativity and color, guide your toddler in painting their pots with vibrant, non-toxic colors, making each planting activity a masterpiece in its own right.

myboredtoddler.com

Invitation to Play with Mud

Encourage your toddler to get their hands dirty with the 'Invitation to Play with Mud' activity, a wonderfully messy yet educational way to explore textures and the joy of creative outdoor play.

thewiseowlfactory.com

How to Easily Grow Garlic to Spice Bread at Home

Discover the joy of homegrown flavors by teaching your toddler to plant garlic cloves in small pots, a simple yet rewarding way to grow their very own garlic for spicing up homemade bread.

inspirationlaboratories.com

Garden Project for Kids: Make a Toyrarium

Transform an old toy dinosaur or fairy into a magical resident of your own homemade 'Toyrarium', creating a miniature garden full of wonders for little hands and imaginations to explore.

themomentsathome.com

DIY Garden Xylophone

Craft a symphony of sounds in the garden by creating this DIY Garden Xylophone, where your toddler can explore musical notes using different lengths of hollow tubes or plant pots.

theimaginationtree.com

Making A Play Garden

Set your toddler's imagination free by creating a Play Garden, a designated space where they can dig, plant, and pretend, cultivating not just plants but their very own magical garden stories.

www.grownyceducation.org

Build Your Own Tiny Greenhouse

Building your own Tiny Greenhouse is a fantastic way to introduce your toddler to the wonders of plant life, creating a personal haven where their curiosity and green thumbs can flourish together.

www.redtedart.com

Simple Bug Hotel for Kids

Construct a Simple Bug Hotel with your toddler to harbor friendly garden insects, teaching them about the importance of biodiversity in a fun and hands-on way.

palzearlylearningprogram.com

Planting a Garden

For an imaginative blend of gardening and math, use an empty paper towel tube as pretend soil, popsicle sticks as stems, and cup liners as flowers to plant a Number Line, teaching accountability and numeracy in an innovative, playful way.

besttoys4toddlers.com

Simple Egg Carton Spring Flower Garden

Craft a Simple Egg Carton Spring Flower Garden by transforming cardboard egg cartons into blooming flowers through small holes for planting, green drinking straws as stems, laying a bed of artificial grass as the garden, and vivid paints to bring the egg carton flowers to vibrant life.

I hope you found a fun gardening activity to try with your toddler. Gardening is an exercise in creativity and exploration. Each activity is a seed, waiting to germinate and grow with your little one.