Getting kids into gardening early is an easy way to show them what patience and responsibility look like, because they get to watch something they cared for slowly grow. It gets them outside, moving around, touching soil, smelling herbs, and just paying attention to the world around them. They end up learning about nature and how things grow without it feeling like a lesson at all.
Kids also tend to get more interested in healthy foods when they’ve planted or picked them themselves. And along the way they build confidence, creativity, and problem-solving skills just by trying things out. Even something tiny, like giving them their own little plant to water, can be a fun first step that helps them develop a real connection with nature.
Let Tee’s Plants be your #1 plant source for teaching with plants! Moms and Dads know best that kiddos love having stuff on their hands make its way into their mouths! That means pesticides, herbicides, and growth regulators too, unfortunately.
Tee’s Plants keeps it simple, and grows everything so it’s super safe for the bees, butterflies, and birds. That means you all too! No pesticides, No herbicides, No growth regulators. EVER!
Tee’s Plants has seasonal projects ready to go for you and your little ones. Here are just a few ideas! Don’t forget to take lots of pictures and videos to remember the fun in the future!
- Free Sunflower Seeds – Grow one of two special formulas, available to Tee’s Plants customers for free! (Until I run out each year, of course!) They’re selected to please both your eyes, and our bee, butterfly, and bird pals! Make sure to ask for them!
- Super Tall – Classic, tall sunflowers that have one giant bloom on each plant. They’re an important energy source for bees, butterflies, and especially the birds, with the massive seeds they leave behind for their Fall and Winter snack!
- Tee’s Tall Mix – A mix made up of several of my favorite premium sunflower varieties! They’re a surprise of branching, and single sunflowers in several shades!
- Butterfly Host Plants – An increasingly important part of holistic development for children is recognizing the impact that environmental respect can have here on Earth. Welcome common bugs to your garden to teach children about the lifecycle of nature, and how they help us grow our own food can be fun!
- Milkweed – Tee’s Plants offers different milkweed varieties to welcome Monarch caterpillars to your property. This gives you the opportunity to witness and enjoy the entire lifecycle of the Monarch butterfly from egg to departure. Many of my customers have great success collecting Monarch butterflies in the summer in Chatham-Kent!
- New England Aster – If you want a runway for your pollinators, you’re going to need a fuel depot too! This aster is an absolute nectar pump, providing crucial late-season energy to large pollinators, as well as safe refuge for their eggs and caterpillars.
- Massive Mammoth Dill – To attract the swallowtails of Southwestern Ontario! These tall and fragrant dill plants will flower quickly, and intensely to welcome swallowtail caterpillars of your own! Lots of other butterflies will visit it as a nectar source, but the swallowtails in particular will lay caterpillar eggs on them!
- And more! – Other pollinator plants like coneflower, rudbeckia, tithonia, alyssum, zinnias, and marigolds will help support pollinator travels and nearby habitats.
- Help support entire populations of beloved bugs, like the firefly and native ladybug!
- Teach about the fascinating insects and birds that the region has to offer!
- Baby Pumpkins – So easy to succeed with, try growing a mini pumpkin with your mini you. They’re easy to control, and you’re likely to have several little pumpkins to enjoy for Halloween. An assortment of varieties available!
- Dwarf Sunflowers – I think every child should grow one sunflower of their own. Depending on the variety, the small ones reach between 1 and 3 feet tall! They can be lots of fun to take pictures with every week during the summer. Grow one as a potted gift for anyone, from your child to them!
- Small potted plants and hanging baskets – They’re easier than you think! Pick a favorite marigold, and put it in a cheap pot from the dollar store!
From experience, children very much enjoy selecting plants from plants that tend to show a lot of variety. Very commonly, those plants are marigolds, petunias, impatiens, and pansies/violas. New gardeners love having the opportunity to pick their own favorites, weighing their preferences before your eyes! With up to 30 colours and patterns for each variety, the options are impressive! Give them an opportunity to select a theme for you! (Or even just a beautiful assortment!) Better yet, you can possibly watch your little gardener decide their favorite plant or flower for life!
- Fruits, Vegetables, and more!
- Just let them pick! With a little guidance, Tee’s Plants can help Mom or Dad choose the right project plants, no matter what! Whether it’s to make a small flower pot for grandma, or to grow the biggest melon in town, there will be fun and unique options for you!
- Bug and Flower Log – Take pictures and videos of your garden as the summer moves on by. Track the growth, the changes, what goes great, and what goes wrong. Get shots of visitors like butterflies and other interesting garden insects. Make sure to take lots of pictures yourselves, too! A fun game is guessing how many weeks it would take for a giant 9′ tall sunflower to get taller than your kid, and taking photos each week until the flower opens.
