Getting my daughter involved

Thanks guys and girls, I am loving the suggestions .

@lolimac, that is a great idea , I am sure Brooke would love that :D.

 

Great suggestions from everybody!

Ownership is a great motivator, my grandparents granted us kids a small row each to grow what we wanted. This was an important gift as at that time all usable land was for seriously productive growing. They also gently pointed us towards failsafe stuff first i.e. Calendulas and radishes, and everybody made a fuss when we presented our first posies of flowers which got a centerpiece place at the dining table. "I grew that" was a good moment.

Growing edibles is great. A large container with raspberries is super easy and will provide just enough crops all summer when planted with varieties cropping at different times. Wilko's sells a 3-pack for a pound or two.

Starting a small tomato plant from seeds from a shop bought fruit next April-ish is also fun. I can recommend Tesco baby plum tomatoes.

A wildlife pond could be a project you can start just now. All you need is a hole in the ground and some liner. Our first pond was a big black plastic pot sunk in the ground, we quickly acquired a resident frog and other (occasionally rather alarming) lifeforms. Researching together is an important thing, it's much better than doing the planning yourself and then just giving orders on what to do. Google together options, sizes, plan the place, pop into the library to check if they have any books...

If you have pets such as guinea pigs, grow a containerful of dandelions for them. The container can be personalised with paint before planting.

Basically I think gardening for kids needs to have a purpose. It could be to provide a habitat for wildlife, or growing edibles for the family, or growing treats such as berries, or perhaps flowers that can be dried for potpourri or room decoration. Tasks just to "help out" are less motivating. Seeing the process end-to-end is good, from seed to pasta sauce, or from planning to a finished project.

Things that don't work: monetary rewards for doing tasks, trying to be funny in growing plants with near-naughty names or shapes (well, Bloody Cranesbill almost worked ), growing too ambitious stuff that is likely to fail (unless the failure is taken as a shared misery and a road to a better solution for the next time), trying to convince a teenager to do any gardening in the front yard.

Great thread @Gardening Guru