25 Creative Garden Activities for the Family

Discover 25 exciting garden activities for families to enjoy together. From planting a vegetable garden to building bird baths, there’s something for everyone. Get ready to bond with your family, learn, and have fun in the garden.

Spending time together as a family is super important. It helps us bond, create memories, and strengthen our relationships. One awesome way to do this is by gardening together.

Gardening isn’t just about planting seeds and watching them grow. It’s a fun and rewarding activity that brings families closer.

Gardening with my kids is one of my favorite things to do. We all love getting our hands dirty and watching our garden grow together.

One of the best parts is letting my kids pick out which vegetables to grow. They get so excited choosing their favorites, like juicy tomatoes or crunchy carrots.

It’s not just about the vegetables. Gardening helps us bond as a family. We work together to plant seeds and also do fun garden activities together.

In the spring and summer, we do lots of family garden activities. We make nature suncatchers, we create a butterfly garden, and we built a compost bin together. Gardening has become a cherished family tradition that we look forward to every year.

A pinterest pin showing four different garden activities (nature paintbrushes, nature suncatcher, a butterfly garden and an insect scavenger hunt).

25 Creative Garden Activities

These activities offer a variety of ways for families to connect with nature, learn about gardening, and create lasting memories together. These projects offer a fun way for families to bond while beautifying their outdoor space.

1. Design a Butterfly Garden

Design a garden specifically to attract butterflies by planting nectar-rich flowers. Butterflies like asters, zinnias, coneflowers, and black eyed susans.

My kids and I planted a butterfly garden, and we were amazed at how many different colors of butterflies came to our garden. We already had wild milk weed growing in our garden.

2. Make a Fairy Garden

Create a miniature fairy garden with your kids using small plants, rocks, and tiny accessories like fairy houses, bridges, and figurines.

We created our fairy garden in a big flowerpot. I let my kids pick out the plants and then they used their imagination to decorate the fairy garden. We use fairy garden accessories that we found at our local Dollar Tree.

3. Make an Herb Spiral

Build a spiral-shaped herb garden using bricks or stones, with different types of herbs planted at various levels to maximize space and create visual interest.

4. Design a Vertical Garden

Construct a vertical garden using recycled materials such as pallets or hanging shoe organizers, and plant a variety of herbs, flowers, or succulents.

5. Make Seed Paper

Make seed paper by mixing wet paper pulp and wildflower seeds together. You can then plant the seed paper and watch the flowers grow.

6. Grow a Vegetable Garden

Start a vegetable garden with your family. It teaches children about where food comes from and involves them in the process of harvesting their own fruits and vegetables.

Did you know that if kids grow vegetables, they eat more vegetables? My kids love picking and eating the vegetables we grow.

7. Start an Observation Journal

Give your kids a notebook to use as a garden journal. They can draw pictures of what they see, write down observations, and track the growth of their plants over time.

8. Make a DIY Bird Bath

Make a simple bird bath using a flowerpot. Simply fill the tray with water and decorative stones.

9. Make a Rain Gauge

Make a simple rain gauge to track rainfall in the garden. Simply use a clear container such as a water bottle or soda bottle with measurements marked.

10. DIY Wind Chimes

Create wind chimes with sticks and fishing line and using recycled materials like old keys, bottle caps, or seashells. Then, hang your wind chimes in the garden.

11. Paint Garden Rocks

Use acrylic paints to decorate rocks with colorful designs, inspirational messages, or images of plants and animals. Then, place your colorful rocks in the garden.

12. Make DIY Bird Seed Ornaments

Make bird seed ornaments by mixing bird seed with gelatin or peanut butter and hanging them in the garden for birds to enjoy.

13. Make Garden Markers

Simply gather some materials like wooden sticks, paint, and markers. Then label each marker with the name of the plant or herb it represents. If your kids want to get creative, they can draw a picture of the plant on the marker.

14. Make a Compost Bin

Make your own compost bin with just a few simple materials like a plastic bin or wooden box. Layer kitchen scraps, yard waste, and soil to start composting. This makes a nutrient-rich soil for your garden.

My husband and kids made our compost bin out of wooden pallets.

15. Make Nature Suncatchers

A homemade suncatcher made with flowers and leaves.

Create a beautiful nature suncatcher by collecting flower petals and leaves from your garden. When finished, hang it in a sunny window. Watch as the sunlight filters through, bringing a touch of nature indoors.

16. Go on a Bug Hunt

Encourage your kids to explore the garden and search for bugs. You can give them magnifying glasses to get a closer look at insects and other critters. We like this insect scavenger hunt.

17. Make Nature Paintbrushes

Did you know that you can make paintbrushes made with items found in nature. My kids and I made paintbrushes out of sticks, and leaves. We had fun painting with our nature paintbrushes.

Nature paintbrushes made with sticks and leaves.

18. Create Garden Art

Set up a designated area for kids to create garden art using rocks, sticks, or other natural materials. They can build sculptures, fairy houses, or even paint rocks to use as garden decorations.

19. Go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt

Create a list of items for kids to find in the garden, such as a certain type of leaf, a flower of a specific color, or a smooth stone.

20. Have a Taste Test

Encourage kids to taste the fruits and vegetables grown in the garden. It’s a great way for them to connect with where their food comes from and develop healthy eating habits.

21. Have a Garden Storytime

Set up a cozy spot in the garden for reading books about nature and gardening. It’s a relaxing way for kids to unwind while surrounded by nature.

22. Have Garden Yoga

Lead kids in a garden yoga session, using poses inspired by nature. It’s a fun way to incorporate movement and mindfulness into their outdoor playtime.

23. Make Upcycled Garden Sculptures

Use recycled materials like old bottles, cans, or broken pottery to create unique garden sculptures.

24. Play Garden Tic-Tac-Toe

Use sticks to create a tic-tac-toe board. Then play games using rocks or pebbles as markers.

25. Make a DIY Terrarium

Create miniature ecosystems in glass containers using soil, rocks, moss, and small plants like succulents or ferns.

We like to make terrariums using mason jars and our compost soil. We simply layer small pebbles, the compost soil and a succulent. Then we spritz it with water and tightly close the lid.

I love how terrariums are low maintenance. The key to their low-maintenance nature lies in their design. The glass container creates a sealed environment where moisture from the soil and plants evaporates and then condenses back into water droplets. These droplets then fall back into the soil, creating a continuous cycle of water.

Now that you’ve explored these 25 creative garden activities for families, it’s time to put them into action. Remember, it’s not about having a perfect garden—it’s about enjoying the journey together as a family.

So, grab your gardening tools, gather your little helpers, and let the magic of the garden unfold. Whether you’re planting a butterfly garden or making flower suncatchers, cherish these moments of togetherness. And don’t forget to share your own spring garden activities with us in the comments below.