Six Ways to Make Indoor Winter Gardening Fun

The cold nights have settled in and the kids are still reeling from the bountiful harvest. But they are starting to feel the emptiness that the cold brings in the garden. Bring the garden inside. The kids will wonder at the things that can be done with an inside garden.

Here are six ways to make indoor winter gardening just as fun as an outside garden.

Decorative Containers

A major part of indoor gardening is finding containers for the plants. There isn’t the luxury of having a place for a ground plot in most homes so container gardens are the normal substitutes. The kids might show more enthusiasm for an indoor garden if they have some sort of decorative container to look at.

You can find decorative containers in just about any home and garden store and some other department stores. The problem is that by the end of fall most containers will be sold or very limited in quantity. Planning ahead will certainly get the best bargains. But if you don’t have the foresight of the indoor garden, then have the kids decorate their own containers using the pots that are available.

Cook Something Up

Another way to gain enthusiasm is to let your child make up a recipe using one or more of the indoor garden plants. The kids might think about what recipe they’d like to cook up and write it down. Some ideas might be tomato sauce from kid-grown tomatoes, pepper stir-fry with those bell peppers the kids love and even salad from fresh cut lettuce.

Choose Your Own Seeds

Give the kids a seed catalog and have them order their own seeds. You can also take them to any home and garden shop before the winter nights settle in and get seeds. Sometimes the seed packets are on sale at the end of the normal garden season so be aware of any sales that you might want to take advantage.

Science Experiment

Getting the kids involved in a science experiment of some kind can curb the boredom that can occur during the bleak winter nights. Let the kids design the experiments. One science experiment that is fun to think about and perform is to see how light affects plants. The kids can observe this many ways. One way is to take two identical plants and cover the leaves of one plant with aluminum foil while leaving the leaves of the other plant uncovered. Place the plants near a sunny window and observe for a few days or even a week. Alternatively, you can use the same plant and cover just two or three leaves. You could use grow lights if you use those for your indoor garden.

The kids could also test seeds of the same plant from different companies to test which grow better if any.

Holiday Gifts

One way to take advantage of an indoor garden is to use the plants you grow as gifts for the winter holidays. Often kids won’t think of plants as gifts. Some good ideas are the Christmas Cactus, flowers, herbs and even a small pine tree. But the plants are wonderful opportunities to give a thoughtful and different gift and save a little money in the process.

The kids can decorate the pot if they’d like and add a bow and a small tag attached to the potted plant with instructions on how to care for the plant.

Head Starts

Gardening all year long brings many benefits. But in addition to letting the kids garden all year long, it gives them the chance to get a head start on next year’s gardens. Many plants can be started inside. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant require long warm growing seasons for the best production and by starting them in the indoor garden the kids will likely ensure a bountiful harvest for next year.

Getting ready each year for the next year’s garden can be exciting. There are all sorts of things the kids want to plan. Growing an indoor winter garden just keeps that heightened sense of wonder going all year long.

Kid's activity guide for indoor and outdoor gardening

-Katina Mooneyham

Katina Mooneyham is a freelance writer from central Ohio. She is a full time stay at home mother homeschooling her two children. Katina likes to read, hike, take nature walks, write and garden. Teaching her kids about gardening is a big priority.