Flymo Inspires Parents To Get Their Kids Gardening!

OVER 180 thousand families have tuned in this week to UK superbrand Flymo’s daily Facebook Live videos with gardening TV presenter and podcaster Lee Connelly, aka Skinny Jean Gardener – and it’s proving to be a real hit among families across the nation!

The daily Facebook Live ‘How To Get Kids Gardening’ sees Flymo’s Ambassador, Skinny Jean Gardener assisted by his daughter Olive, demonstrating fun activities kids can do in the garden, with a bespoke phone line set up for callers to ring in and ask questions. From planting seeds to caring for wildlife – there’s something for all kids to enjoy and get involved in using items from around the home. 

Lee Connelly, aka Skinny Jeans Gardener, said: “The world is going through an extremely tricky and isolating time at the moment, and it’s important for everyone to come together and support each other, what better way than getting kids involved in the garden! By doing these daily live videos, families and children can keep busy, learn something new and have fun whilst staying at home.

“I really think that the positive from this will be that children will finally explore and spend more time in the garden, and even realise that it is a usable space in the home. I’m all about creating something for the kids from nothing, so by upcycling, recycling and using materials from around the house, you are able to get children gardening outside.”

To help families with ideas, Skinny Jean Gardener has shared 10 things you can easily do in your garden whilst staying at home: 

1.    SEEDS AND PLANNING

It’s a really important part of getting kids gardening, making them part of the planning and deciding what seeds (or plants) you are going to grow. Sit down with some pens and paper and design out what’s going where and write a list of what you will be growing this season. 

2.    PLANTING SEEDS/ CARE FOR PLANTS

Getting hands messy and starting that process of seed to plant is great. It’s like magic that you get to see happen over time, and really gets children excited to watch that process. Once they’ve planted the seed, every morning make sure that they are watered all the way till the point of the vegetables growing. It really gives children a sense of responsibility and teaches patience. 

3.    SEED MARKERS

These don’t need to be difficult to make; you can create them from either painting stones, creating them with old spoons, or even easier by getting the children to draw on cardboard (that could come from an old cereal box) what they are growing, and then covering it with tape. This then gets children thinking about what they are growing and the final outcome of their efforts.  

4.    BUG HOTEL

These are simple to make and can be made with whatever you can find in your garden. They can be as big or as small as you like. Searching for the materials can be an activity in itself, whether that be leaves, grass, stones, twigs, bricks or wood; they can all be used to pile up and create a hideaway for the bugs. The great thing is that over the coming weeks you can keep coming back to the bug hotel and see who the new guests are. 

5.    FROG POND

When slugs come and eat our vegetables it can be a right pain. But, inviting frogs into the garden can definitely help. The image everyone has when a frog pond is mentioned tends to involve lots of water and something that will take over the garden. But using just a simple washing up bowl can do the trick. All you need to do is dig the bowl into the ground. Pop a brick inside so the frogs, and wildlife, can hop in and out. A roof tile over half the bowl will provide shade in the hot summers. Planting around your new pond will also provide some protection from predators. You need to give wildlife a home to get them into the garden. 

6.    DEN BUILDING

Just like wildlife, having a place for the kids to hide and enjoy is important to get them out there. There are so many ways to do this, but a favourite has to the runner bean tipi. Made from just bamboo canes and your runner bean plants, you simply dig in the canes in a circle, bring them together with tape or string at the top and this will create your tipi structure. Then, plant your runner bean plants next to the canes and your edible hideaway is ready to go. Not only throughout summer will the kids will have somewhere to play, they’ll also have something to eat too. 

7.    BIRD HIDE

For a calming activity, bird watching and seeing which birds land in your garden can be a lot of fun. One idea is to create a bird hide. When you get a parcel, they usually come in massive boxes. You just cut a post box sized hole out of the front of it, pop it in the garden, and watch from indoors. It’s now, a waiting game. 

8.    FINDING NATURE

Our gardens are packed full of nature, ready for us to find. This game is created by the parent going around the garden beforehand and writing down what they can see. Whether that be a large stone, a twig, or an orange leaf. The child then has to go around the garden and find the items from the list. Think of it like a nature ‘eye-spy’. 

9.    OUTDOOR ART

The garden is a great place to find things, collect them and create some art. All you need is some glue and some paper, and the bits you have found. Then, get arty with it! 

10. HELPING OUT

It’s great to get kids involved with gardening, the fun bits and also the more ‘normal’ jobs.  Think about putting some time aside for weeding, gutting the grass and tidying up. By allocating about 15 – 20 minutes a week for this, it’ll encourage the family to come together and it’ll be just as successful as the ‘fun’ stuff. By making sure it doesn’t last for hours means you can make even the most boring of tasks fun. 

Don’t forget to tune in to Flymo’s Facebook Live here https://www.facebook.com/FlymoOfficial/ at 10am every week day between Monday 23 March – Friday 03 April 2020 and join Skinny Jean Gardener with fun activities for the whole family to enjoy. 

https://www.flymo.com/uk

Source: Flymo and Insight DIY.