Let loose in the garden, armed only with a few simple garden tools, some seedlings and their vibrant and eager imaginations, the humble back garden can really kick-start a love of gardening in young children.

Even if you have no garden or very little space, there are activities that you can undertake that are fun, cheap and thrill kids.

Simple veggie gardens, gardening clubs, visiting nurseries, botanic gardens, parks and forests and watching garden renovation shows or nature programmes during indoor time can all build gardening passions!

And by helping children mix the practical with the magical, the humble back garden becomes a place of deep magic, adventure, fun and discovery.

There are dragons, fairies and trolls everywhere – you just need to know where to look...

Animals / Discovery / Family Life / Garden / Imagination / Kitchen / Outdoor Fun

Departing childhood – will your child pack the important stuff?

by Caro&Co on Jan 13, 2012 • 10 Comments

I recently had the misfortune of watching an advertorial about a product that promised to have your child reading fluently by the age of 1. Whilst I adore reading and would always encourage children to do so, the advertorial implied that young children should spend every waking moment engaged in some form of structured learning....

Discovery / Family Life / Garden / Imagination / Outdoor Fun

Tick, tock goes the clock. Children and time….

by Caro&Co on Oct 11, 2011 • 7 Comments

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” ~Albert Einstein My daughter has become quite the clock-watcher of late as she has been learning about “time” at school.  She is particularly fascinated by clocks with roman numerals and was spellbound when I managed to produce an old Mickey Mouse alarm...

Discovery / Family Life / Garden / Imagination / Outdoor Fun

Simple pleasures…

by Caro&Co on Sep 9, 2011 • 9 Comments

“Life can be rich without riches.  And it can be full without a cupboard overflowing with toys or a drawer stuffed with computer games.” Next week marks 10 years since I became a mother.  Whilst I was overjoyed at having a healthy baby boy, (followed closely by a beautiful little girl just 16 months later),...

Discovery / Family Life / Garden / Imagination / Outdoor Fun

Gardening and plants … through a child’s eyes

by Caro&Co on Aug 4, 2011 • 7 Comments

Gardening and plants have long been a passion of mine.  I’ve spoken before about how my obsession began and my desire to instill a love of the natural world in my children.  I spend much time explaining to them that plants are integral to our emotional, spiritual and physical health. And whilst I’m not a...

Family Life / Garden / Imagination / Kitchen / Outdoor Fun

1000 things to do with green tomatoes before you die…

by Caro&Co on Apr 28, 2011 • 1 Comment

GREEN TOMATO RELISH FOR DUMMIES With a glut of green tomatoes at our farm and the first frost threatening to turn them all to slush, we recently harvested the last of our heirloom tomatoes.  As is the way when you have a productive veggie patch and no real skill on managing your harvests, we got...

Discovery / Family Life / Garden / Imagination / Outdoor Fun / Uncategorized

Plants you can play with #4 – the magic of grasses

by Caro&Co on Apr 19, 2011 • 7 Comments

I love grasses.  There are over 600 genera and some 10,000 species of grass around the world.  It’s my view that they are amongst the most important family of plants on the planet.  They have a multitude of uses and functions ranging from purely ornamental to agricultural. They form our staple food grains and cereal...

Discovery / Family Life / Garden / Imagination / Outdoor Fun

Sowing the seeds of future passions…

by Caro&Co on Apr 8, 2011 • 13 Comments

“The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies.” - Gertrude Jekyll When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with my Grandfather.  He was a professional gardener and would quite often take me to his place of work, which I adored. I would help him pull out weeds and...

Family Life / Garden / Imagination / Outdoor Fun

Beetles, Oreos and Ivory Curls – sharing small joys

by Caro&Co on Feb 13, 2011 • 4 Comments

Early this morning my daughter and I set off on a walk. Grey clouds and rain loomed but we were determined to a) exhaust our puppies and b) find some funky things to add to our found collection. As we walked, conversation fell to sharing and the different ways in which one can do this....