Kids will enjoy gardening almost as much as we adults do. The biggest misconception among parents is that when kids come along, gardening is pretty much over except for mowing the lawn. They think that they don't have the time, or the kids will ruin the gardens. As long as you teach your children to not pull up the pretty plants, they usually won't. I do this by telling my boys that "if you pull the heads off the pretty flowers you'll kill them, then there won't be anymore pretty flowers to look at". My boys don't pick flowers. My sister-in-law however hasn't taught her daughter to not pick flowers. So, it's scarry when my niece comes to visit, on her last visit, she pulled the blooms off an entire bed of pansys! My sister-in-law thought it was cute, her little girl was picking flowers for mommy. But she was destroying someone's garden at the same time. If you are OK with your kids picking flowers, then let them plant their own garden of pickable flowers. That way, they will be happy and so will you. But, also stress that when visiting others, don't pick people's flowers. It can cause some people to get upset with your child, and you could loose a friend.

When kids are very little, they will be content to dig in the dirt, or count the plants your putting in. But when they get about preschool age, then they might want to "garden" too. This is a great time to let them create their own garden in something like an old tire, some large flower pots or a window box. Buy them inexpensive seeds or plants, but do some research first about what plants are poisonous. And there's quite a few that are.  If you have poisonous plants in your gardens, and you don't want to get rid of the plants, then you will have to keep a closer eye on your children in the garden until they get old enough to understand that some plants are dangerous.

It is important to focus on the level of activity that a child can handle, make it fun for both of you and don't overdo the "teaching" aspect of gardening. Kids learn by watching, doing and "mucking around". They'll absorb a lot more if you relax and enjoy yourself too. Later you can look at books, watch the Nature channel or go on the internet to explore gardening web sites together.  Digging in dirt is a toddler past-time. For little ones looking for bugs and discussing "good" bugs for the garden, etc. is a great way to keep their interest. Even quite young children can help plant seeds or annuals in spring or bulbs in fall.

Let your kids make mud pies because it's a fun way to let them get dirty and feel the soil. Soak a spot of ground, provide a few pie pans and old kitchen utensils, and let the kids go to it. Then you can introduce kids to flowers, leaves, seeds, etc. as decorations for their pies.