Children like to experiment and love flowers, plants and nature. Promoting this tendency at an early stage and providing further training is a must. Below you will find out which plants are suitable for curious children to grow in the garden or at home.
Which plants are suitable for children to grow?
Plants for children should be easy to care for, non-toxic and interesting. Ideal plants are strawberries, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, cress, radishes, sunflowers, tomatoes and sweet corn. Houseplants such as spider plants, Chinese money tree, thickleaf and cat grass are also suitable.
Fruits and vegetables for children
It makes sense to grow easy-care and fast-growing vegetables so that the children don't lose interest in the process and nothing happens if they don't water for a day.
| Vegetables/Fruit | Advantages | Time until harvest |
|---|---|---|
| Strawberries | Very tasty, very popular | 100 days |
| leaf lettuce | Grows very quickly and can be harvested continuously | 35 – 60 days |
| Cucumbers | Edible flowers, attractive climbing plant, growth observable | 70 days |
| Carrots | Beautiful shape, beautiful herb | 80 – 100 |
| cress | Extremely fast growth, can be grown all year round | 10 – 15 days |
| Radish | Pretty pink, fast growth | 30 – 50 days |
| Sunflowers | Very nice to look at and tasty, robust | 50 – 90 days |
| Tomatoes | Growth observable, be careful: sensitive shoots! | 60 days |
| sweetcorn | Very tasty | 90 – 100 days |
Plants for the windowsill
Not everyone has a garden, but you don't need one. Many plants also thrive on a bright window sill or a balcony. For example:
- Strawberries
- cress
- Salads
- Wheatgrass
Houseplants for children
It doesn't necessarily have to be edible plants. Children are also interested in non-flowering green plants. However, for safety reasons, you should make sure that the houseplants you choose are non-toxic for your child - and of course they should also be easy to care for. Therefore the following are possible:
- Green lily: extremely easy to care for and robust, difficult to kill, forms interesting children that can be used for reproduction
- Chinese money tree: UFO-like leaves
- Thickleaf: easy to care for and robust, can be easily propagated via cuttings
- Cat grass: can be sown and grows extremely quickly, a treat for cats (€2.00 on Amazon)
- Ivy plant: For older children, as it is poisonous, but: Leaves can be cut and put in water and then form roots - a great spectacle!
Not suitable for children as it is poisonous
You should not have the following plants in a garden or a household with children, as they are highly poisonous and can have fatal consequences:
- Christmas Rose
- Yew (red fruits non-poisonous, needles fatally poisonous)
- Ivy
- Monkshood
- Gold Rain
- Autumn Crocus
- Cherry laurel (particularly dangerous as the red fruits look very tasty)
- Lily of the valley
- Pfaffenhütchen
- Castor bean tree
