How to Make a Starter Garden with Your Toddler
Thank you Dixie® Cups for sponsoring this post.
Check out how versatile these 5 oz. multi-purpose cups are!
There are so many ways to spend time outdoors with your children! From barbecues to pool parties to bike rides, there’s no shortage of outside fun. But, have you thought about gardening? Growing a garden is a great activity to do with children! Not only is gardening an activity to entertain your little ones, but it can also be a great sensory and fine motor activity.
From the feel of the dirt on their hands to the taste of homegrown vegetables, gardening engages all of the senses. And shoveling dirt, planting seeds, and watering plants are great fine motor activities that will have your child practice their hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity. Furthermore, gardening teaches children about the environment, gives them a sense of pride in their efforts, and introduces healthy foods – that they grew on their own!
Have I convinced you you need to plant a vegetable garden with your little one yet?
Why a starter garden
So, now that I have convinced you to start a vegetable garden with your children, how do you do it? I recommend starting a starter garden! By doing a starter garden indoors, you increase your chances of having a successful and flourishing garden. If you’re starting before the spring season, you also get a head start on the weather rather than waiting for the last frost to pass before sowing seeds directly outside.
There are many ways you can start a starter garden, but we chose Dixie® multi-purpose 5 oz. cups. The 5 oz. size is so perfect for those tiny toddler hands to hold. And who doesn’t love a little sprouting leaf in the most adorable cup?!
While you may usually use Dixie® multi-purpose 5 oz. cups with your kids for mealtimes or for brushing their teeth, the small size and beautiful print inspires me to think of unconventional and versatile ways of using them, such as for a starter vegetable garden!
Materials
- Dixie® multi-purpose 5 oz. cups
- Potting soil
- Vegetable seeds
- Small shovel
- Spray bottle of water
- Toddler
Pick out seeds
Involve your kids from the very beginning and have them help pick out seeds for your starter garden! Going to your local nursery and browsing their selection of seeds is part of the fun. Ask your little one what vegetables they like, which ones look tasty, or how they can cook them for meals. Doing this will give your child a sense of participation in the gardening process and may help with the buy-in when it’s time to eat them. ????????
Gather materials
Once you have your seeds picked out, it’s time to gather all of your materials. Trust me, you don’t want to leave your toddler alone with potting soil while you’re grabbing the seeds ????. I would suggest using a small tray to put your Dixie® multi-purpose 5 oz. cups on for easy transport and fast clean-up.
Prep your Dixie® multi-purpose 5 oz. cups
The next step is to prep your Dixie® multi-purpose 5 oz. cups. To avoid drowning your baby plants, make small holes on the bottom of each cup for any excess water to drain. I used a knife to make four little slits.
Now it’s time for your toddler to help! Fill each cup with potting soil using a spoon or small shovel, stopping about 1 inch from the top. Warning: this will get messy! But this is such a great sensory activity that helps your child develop their fine motor skills from scooping up dirt, crossing their midline, and pouring it into a different container. To make it a little easier to scoop, pour the potting soil from its original giant bag into a small bowl.
Plant Your Seeds
Now that your cups are prepped, it’s time to plant your seeds! Read each seed packet for how deep they should be planted. Some of the small seeds can be sprinkled onto the surface while the larger ones will need to be buried. This can range from ¼ inch to a couple of inches. Use a finger or small stick to estimate the depth as it doesn’t have to be precise. Toddler fingers are perfect for this! Have your toddler place a few seeds in each hole. Younger toddlers may not have the fine motor skill for this and instead will dump a whole bunch of seeds all at once, but just scoop out the extra seeds, if you can. If anything, you’ll have extra insurance that something will sprout! Once all the seeds are in, cover lightly with potting soil. Press down gently. Again, toddler hands are the perfect size for the Dixie® multi-purpose 5 oz. cups.