Gardening and Growing Kits for Kids

The sun has been working overtime recently and if you’re lucky enough to have a garden, a balcony or a few window boxes, now is the time to make the most of those precious rays and allocate your mini gardeners some growing space to cultivate their own flowers, vegetables, herbs and a few tasty mud pies of course. Children love growing their own plants from seed and the thrill of seeing those tiny shoots burst through the soil and grow into something beautiful and/or edible never fails to fascinate and excite. Gardening is the perfect way to get children to learn through play, get some fresh air and connect with nature not to mention a great activity to break up that home school schedule with some practical field work! Here are our favourite gardening kits, clothes and books to inspire budding horticulturalists…

The Best Gardening Buys for Children

Wellies are essential. Hosepipes + soil = mud! Puddlestomper Wellies, from £15, Muddy Puddles

This beautifully illustrated lift the flap book follows a garden through the seasons and is perfect for inspiring gardeners aged 7+ In the Garden by Emma Giuliani, from £16.25, Amazon

Check out  Planet  Good Earth – a community-led organisation that helps support food education for children and young adults through allotments, schools and community gardens in urban and rural areas nationwide. Each season they launch limited-edition organic grow kits and seed collections – with everything compostable, biodegradable or recyclable. Each seed pack comes with a super fun 24-page GrowZine printed with vegetable ink and biodegradable stickers. Planet Good Earth Seed Box (5 packets of organic seeds), £20

Don’t forget a sun hat! Plain Cotton Bucket hat, £7, M&S

An essential tome for budding gardeners packed with fun activities, simple gardening tips, recipes and gorgeous illustrations to help children learn how to plant, nurture and even eat the things they grow! Comes with a scrapbook section to record notes and look back on. A Little Guide to Gardening by Jo Elworthy and illustrated by Eleanor Taylor, from selection at Amazon

Serious gardeners need serious equipment. This wheelbarrow will transport pots, weeds and picnics! Happy Garden Metal Wheelbarrow, from £35, Janod

The perfect gentle starter kit for the tiniest of green fingers. Liewood Lotus Gardening Set, £40, Molly Meg 

Who could resist these hedgehogs? A lovely kit for toddlers and younger kids, which comes with sturdy protective gloves. Janod Little Gardner Play Set, £26.10, Amazon

Something a little sturdier for kids who really want to get stuck in. Kids Rake & Shovel Gardening Tool Set, £14.99, KIDSHIVIS

Pudding is the perfect incentive to get planting! Little Gardeners Yummy Strawberry Growing Kit, from a selection at Gardening For Kids

Resembling the iconic head of a PLAYMOBIL figure, the OJO planter make growing plants or herbs ‘hair-raising’ fun. The pot features a stick-irrigation system and large interactive eyes, which serve as an indicator to show how much water is left in the reservoir. This means children can take responsibility of their plants and top-up when necessary (as when the interactive eyes turn blue, they know the water reservoir is full). These lightweight planters are UV resistant (so won’t fade), are shatterproof and come in 6 colour ways.  OJO Self-watering Planter, £29.99, Lechuza

A compostable veg box that you literally plant into the soil, this is a super easy way for kids to get started with growing some pretty exciting greens. Chard, radishes, carrots, lettuce and beans are all ready to go!  Mr Fothergills Vegetable GroBox Gardens for Children, £9.25, Just Seed

A great board book for getting younger kids excited about gardening. Full of fun projects and facts. National Trust: Busy Little Bees: Sunflower Shoots and Muddy Boots A Child’s Guide to Gardening by Katherine Halligan and Grace Easton, from £7, Amazon

Encourage birds, bees and butterflies into the garden with these fantastic Seedboms. Birds, Bees & Butterflies Seedbom Gift Box, £15, Kidly 

Want to keep your kids clothes clean while they garden? Zip them into a sturdy Adventure Suit to keep stains, tears and knee holes at bay. Junior Design Award winning, these all-in-ones come in various designs to suit all. Ditsy Dog Little Adventure Suit, from selection, Little Adventure Suit Co.

So beautiful you’ll want it on your coffee table, this Junior Design Award winning book is full of fun activities with sustainability and respect for the environment at their core. Great for those without outside space, there are plenty of projects that bring the outside in. Beautiful illustrations by Romanian artist Aitch lend the book a magical vintage feel. Easy Peasy: Gardening for Kids by Little Gestalten, £12.95, Waterstones

A vegetable patch kit that contains everything your little one will need to grow their own delicious vegetables including seed, tools, gloves and pots.) Allowing them to see and understand how things grow, as well as how that food might work in different recipes and dishes once its grown. Glenstcken Herb and Plant Co. Kids Grow Your Own Veg Patch Kit, £22.50, Not on the Highstreet

>> You might also like to read: The Ultimate Children’s Gardening Tips from The Chelsea Flower Show