We’ve recently been sent a copy of The Children’s Garden: Loads of Things to Make & Grow by Matthew Appleby. It is packed full of fun ideas and projects for getting the kids involved outside, and even inside during the colder months with gardening-inspired activities.
A garden can be a place for discovery, creativity and fun, and a space that encourages children to enjoy and engage with the natural world. Through 52 exciting family projects, this book inspires parents and their children to play and learn in the garden, with activities including nature trails, cooking, crafting and growing plants and vegetables.
The book starts with some basics and suggestions around planting, outdoor play, garden design and safety, before moving onto 52 projects for children to try, divided up by seasons. From Home-Made Seed Bombs in spring, to Miniature Gardens in summer, to Pumpkin Projects in autumn to Feeding the Birds in winter, there are many activities to try, suitable for children of all ages. Every project has a double page spread, one side with clear instructions, the other with helpful photographs.
This book is right up our street as the kids love being outside and I like to involve and interest them as much as I possibly can in the wildlife and nature we have out there. It is crammed with ideas that I know the kids will enjoy, so we will be dipping into this over the course of this year and trying many of the suggestions. It’ll be over to the children to choose what they’d like to do. Boo tells me she wants to try Instant Model Villages, creating with Stones and Pebbles and Little Man is very keen to give Knights Go Jousting a try!
Like the look of this one? I do have a copy of this book available to give away now to one of my readers. To be in with a chance of winning it, enter using the rafflecopter below. The competition is open to UK residents only and closes at midnight 14th March 2016. Good luck!
The Children’s Garden, published by Frances Lincoln, is available to buy from 3rd March 2016.
What appeals to you about this book?
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book FOC for the purposes of this post
Love the look of this book, I have an outdoor adventurer and we shall be looking at this book when it comes out in March!
I love the fact it is divided into seasonal activities and includes a range of activities which will appeal to any age group.
I like that it is getting kids outdoors and that also there are things they can do indoors when the weather is too bad! It looks like lots of fun!
This is a great idea. My 3 year old loves watering the plants in the garden and watching them grow
It looks like an easy step by step guide, so the children can follow it too.
kids being out and about
my son loves to play outside and this book would make it that bit more interesting for him and get him involved with nature more
That it is full of information to assist adult with child in gardening projects. I’d like to get the children involved at a young age, whilst I’d also like gardening to be a fun activity for them. One which they can share with parents and Grandparents etc.
I love that it has lots of ideas on how to get children engaged with and enjoying gardening x
Ideas to get my son outside having fun.
My children like gardening so will be a great way to encourage them and teach them new things
The fact that it’s really aimed at children and will give me lots of inspiration!
looks great with fab ideas
My granddaughter loves gardening and she will be able to relate to it
It looks like it has some good ideas to share some gardening fun with my children.
My kids love being outdoors and this would give us some great ideas for our garden as it is in much need of tlc.
i like the activities for different ages and seasons
Getting my son outside & engaged by nature.
I enjoy gardening,hope my grandson might read this book and join me
Encouraging being outdoors.
it gets kids wanting to spend time in the fresh air
This is a great giveaway! Gardening can be a lot of fun as well as educational. Growing things teaches children so much (including the art of patience!).
Making a model village – my kids would love to try this
I like how it has options for every season. It’s easy to focus on summer for gardening.
It contains things to do as a family
would love fresh ideas to entertain the kids
My son would absolutely love this
It looks fun
new ideas on how to make the most of children having a garden
Our garden is a mess, as I’ve failed at it, maybe the boys could do better with some inspiration from this book.
I like the pictures and could always use some good idea’s for Activities during the holidays
My grandson is just four and my husband has introduced him to the joy of gardening and he loves it. This book would be a great item for him to have. It might get his twin sister interested too.
everything! this is absolutely a great book to win, for kids to get to know their garden and nature and get involved with it’s beauty hands on! thanxs for the chance to win a great prize!
what a lovely prize, would love the chance to win this so that I can help teach my little girl life skills from an early age
My grandaughter loves playing in the dirt the book would be so helpful to her
Learning how to grow plants all year round.
It’s REAL! I’m sick of all ths gaming and it’s a constant battle in our household. Kids like to make things and to see how things ‘work’ it’s fascinating to see things grow and it’s nice to have that sense of achievement and pride which no war torn computing console is going to give you. Also kids are more open to trying new things if they’ve grown and/or helped prep the meal. It’s an all round winner!
Plenty for the little ones to look at and do
I love that there are so many hands on, ‘dirty’ activities for the kids!
spending time outside with the kids, learning about nature and getting dirty
I woul like to win this fab prize for my granddaughter as it is filled with many creative ideas for her to try.
We have a small garden at home and I would love to get my two boys (age 2 and 3) involved with it especially with spring just around the corner!
it looks good xx
Getting them out in the garden building a model village.
This will help us get the kids outdoors!
More outdoor time can only be a good thing!
I love that its children related with something that we all enjoy is the garden and helping things to grow.
I would love to read through this and get some ideas of things to do with my little one.
aimed at kids which is good
That I could learn something with the grandchildren (never tried growing anything before)
We moved from a postage stamp garden to a park!! It would be nice to have some ideas for the 4 kids on what to do with it 😀
Encouraging being outdoors.
This would give me & the grandsons plenty to do in the garden x
This would hopefully encourage my daughter to show an interest in our garden
Me and my daughter started with radishes last year so this book appeals as it will teach us both a lot more 🙂
That its something my boys love and can relate to, they love going to the allotments and learning new skills x
The ideas inside it look interesting and it helps children learn to look after the environment
We’ve just moved into a new house and the garden is totally empty, I have no idea where to begin, this book looks great for getting some ideas.
I love this book because growing and tending plants instills a love of fresh food and gets the children out into the fresh air and away from constant technology distractions
I know nothing about gardening, so it would be fab to learn together! x
how it encourages children to be in the garden in a fun way
ideas for my kids to use in the garden
that it gets the kids outside in the fresha air x
All of the free activities to keep the kids entertained.
Brilliant ideas perfect
I loved being in the garden when I was younger so this book would give me plenty of fun ideas to make memories with my daughter
Great book kids should be outside more
It will help me get my grandchildren interested in gardens and the outdoors.
My daughter loves playing outside and getting her hands dirty
It looks easy to follow
We bought my children a mini veg trug for Christmas so we can attempt to grow some of our own vegetables. This book looks like it’s full of fab ideas to get us all out in the garden
Love the range of activities in it which we can join in with
We are turning our garden from neglected wasteland to cottage heaven (at least that’s the plan). The conservatory has become a seed greenhouse, the garden a muddy building site..would love to give the kids a chance to grab some of it and make it their own.
my monkeys would love thankyou for the chance
Getting children involved in gardening
The whole concept of the book is amazing. the crafty bits are really good.
It gives you and your child lots of ideas for ways they can actually take part in helping with the garden!
I help run a Nature Watch Grroup for local children and this book should give us lots of new ideas
It gets children interested in the outdoors from a young age and it is things you can do together.
t looks like an easy step by step guide,
It has a good layout and looks easy to use.
Lots of outdoor activities
I love new ideas for outside adventures, looks great
It will be a great excuse to get the kids out and doing some gardening!
Different ways to enjoy the garden
this looks a great read for my kids they love having adventures outside
Looks great, and lots of outdoor things to do.
Looks easy to follow 🙂 xx