We got plenty of April showers and now it’s time for all the gorgeous May flowers!

Whether you’re starting some seeds for your veggie garden or adding some vibrant spring blooms around your mailbox, gardening can be a whole lot of fun for the whole family. Kids love to get their hands dirty and watch their plants grow to produce flowers and fruit and parents can appreciate their enthusiasm for the enviornment and their excitment to eat all the healthy veggies they harvest.

Since spring planting season is officially here, we’re sharing some tips and tricks to making gardening with your kids a safe and fun activity to enjoy in the beautiful weather of May.

So get out those sun hats, garden tools and get ready to get dirty.

Sun Protection

It might be early in the season to be thinking about summer safety, but on a sunny spring day, your skin can take a lot of damage. If you’re planning on gardening in the yard instead of containers inside, make sure sun protection is your number one priority. Especially on your little one’s delicate skin, sunscreen and a gardening hat can protect from harsh UV rays and prevent a nasty sunburn during your gardening adventure. If the sun is particularly ruthless, you can use a beach umbrella to give you some shade while you dig.

Life Lessons

Use this unique opportunity to teach your kids about more than just plants. While waiting for your garden to bloom, even small kids can pick up on garden ettiquite and being aware of their path through the garden and the impact of their footprints on young plants. Gardening takes patience and watching fruit, veggies and flowers grow shows your children that patience is worth the wait. Having variety in your garden will help your little ones make better food choices and it’s an opporunity to establish a relationship with their environment at a very young age.

Tools of the Trade

Like any good gardener, your little helpers need the tools to get the job done. While you’ll still be doing most of the hard work yourself like digging, raking and getting rid of any bugs you encounter along the way, giving your kids their own set of tools makes them feel like an important part of the process. Make sure that your kids feel a sense of responsibility to take care of their equipment and keep them in a safe place for the next time they want to plant some new garden friends.

You’d be surprised how fun it can be to get out in the yard and do some spring gardening with your family!

Not only can you teach your little ones about how plants grow and how to be more mindful about the environment, your home can get a refreshing dose of curb appeal to beautifully welcome the warm weather of spring!