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Kids’ Gardening Activities & Easy Plants to Grow Indoors During Lockdown
Coronavirus concerns have led to school closures around the world. If you’re looking for an activity to keep kids entertained at home, why not introduce them to indoor gardening? As a hobby, gardening provides kids with amazing benefits that contribute to their health and happiness. It engages all of their senses as they get to experience the joy and responsibility of growing and harvesting their own food. On top of all this, it doesn’t require you to leave the house!
With Click & Grow Smart Gardens, growing plants with kids has never been easier. It’s as simple as popping in their favourite plant pods, watching them grow and then harvesting them. Our technology takes care of all the tricky work in between by automatically watering and providing light for the plants.
Choosing a Smart Garden for your family
If you’re looking for a family-sized indoor garden or an upgrade on your Smart Garden 3, we recommend checking out the Smart Garden 9 and Smart Garden 27. Both gardens give kids the chance to grow a wide variety of plants that will excite their curiosity. They’ll love seeing how their plants grow from tiny seeds to luscious full size specimens, bringing a sense of pride and accomplishment.
Smart Garden 9
- The next step up from the Smart Garden 3, grows 9 fresh plant pods at a time
- Perfect for your kitchen top or your child’s room
- Automatic watering & lighting
- Ideal for kids to experiment with growing herbs, fruits, flowers and vegetables
Smart Garden 27
- The ultimate Smart Garden for the biggest possible yield
- Grows 27 fresh plant pods at a time - every family member can enjoy a constant supply of their favourite plants
- Automatic watering & lighting
- Endless possibilities for the family: grow food, tea blends, or flowers to brighten the home
- Perfect for kids to learn about plant growth on a larger scale
Choosing plants to grow
One of the beauties of owning a Smart Garden is that your family can grow virtually anything. With over 55 plant pods to choose from, your kids won’t have time to be bored! If you’re looking for plants with a reputation for sprouting very quickly, consider: Basil (multiple varieties, including Cinnamon Basil, Dwarf Basil, Holy Basil and Thai Basil), Dwarf Pea, Garden Cress and Green Chard.
Want to grow some colourful edibles? Check out: Red Sweet Pepper, Mini Tomato, Red Basil, Red Pak Choi, Wild Strawberry and Yellow Sweet Pepper.
Why not give kids the experience of growing their own decorative plants? Some favourites from our collection include Red Pansy, Busy Lizzie, Cockscomb, Cornflower, Lavender and Painted Nettle.
Do your kids already have seeds they want to grow? Check out our experimental pods. These pods contain an advanced version of our Smart Soil that boosts the sprouting and growth of any plant your kids want to experiment with.
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Keeping a plant journal
Once your family’s Smart Garden is set up and the pods have been planted, make the most of your experience by keeping a plant journal. This could be either digital or handwritten and hand-decorated. This is a fun way for kids to record their daily or weekly observations on the growth of their plants. Make memories and take some photos of the plants that they can look back on in the future!
Easy plant experiments to try
Take the opportunity to explore questions of nature with your kids. An indoor garden is a great educational resource for learning about nature and how living organisms need to be cared for.
Insert new plant pods into your smart garden. Add transparent domes for some of them but leave the others without.
Observe: Is germination faster with or without domes?
Discuss: Is the greenhouse effect good or bad for plants? What about for humans? What about for the planet?
Grow plants in two separate smart gardens. Turn on the light for the first garden but not for the second one. Use basil, painted nettle and dwarf pea pods.
Observe: Do all plants have similar light requirements? How do plants compensate for low light conditions?
Discuss: What is photosynthesis? Why do plants need resting time in the darkness? What happens if plants don’t get enough light? What happens if the temperature is too low or too high? Which plants like to grow in warmer climates / in colder climates?
Designate 3 growing slots in your smart garden. Fill one with sand, another with garden soil, and the other with Click & Grow Smart Soil (use an experimental pod). Plant seeds in each slot, then compare germination and growth.
Discuss: How do plants get their nutrients for growing and what part does the soil play in this? Can plants grow without soil? What do we need to do to keep soil in good health? How much of our world's land is suitable for growing crops?
Be sure to join our Click & Growers community to get ideas and inspiration from other indoor gardeners. Remember to use our knowledge base and app for plant care info, FAQ or advice (Support page / Ask a Gardener Forum). Our expert gardeners are always happy to help!
For further reading, check out our blog post: 5 Beautiful Ways That Gardening Benefits Kids
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