National Children's Gardening Week 2026

It’s Time To Get Children Into The Garden And Growing . . .

Running from Saturday, 23rd May until Sunday, 31st May, National Children’s Gardening Week was established in 2015 by gardening expert Neil Grant to inspire the next generation of gardeners. Coinciding perfectly with May half-term, when children are off school, and the weather is warmer, makes it the ideal time to capture children's enthusiasm and get them involved in growing.

To help parents, aunts, uncles, godparents and grandparents get children out into the garden and learning about plants we have carefully sought out a range of items which will not only mean they can do this safely, but that they have their own tools specially designed for smaller hands which they will be proud to use, exploring kits so they can search out the interesting flowers and foliage for feel, scent and colour as well as curious encounters with the many beneficial insects which will be happily calling your garden their home.

To celebrate National Children’s Gardening Week, we are offering you a 10% discount on children's gardening from the 23rd until the 31st of May - simply click here to see the full range.

Let’s take a look at how you can inspire the younger ones in your family to enjoy gardening just like you, so it becomes something you can spend time doing together, passing on your knowledge and making memories.

"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place, where colours are brighter, the air is softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again."
Courtesy of American garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence

Be An Explorer

While attending school offers children a structured setting to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for growth, your garden can serve as a limitless, magical classroom. In this space, children can safely explore the outdoors, learning about plants, insects, animals, and the environment. Simultaneously, they gain physical and mental health benefits from being outdoors and have the opportunity to experience various scents and textures that are easily accessible.

You can easily inspire your children’s passion for nature with one of our specially curated ‘Little Explorer’ kits, which include everything they need to safely start exploring the outdoors. For those who will be inspired by scent and colour, pick our Little Explorer of Flowers kit, which includes identification cards, a notepad, a pencil and even a flower press, so at the end of the day they can come inside and keep learning.

For those minds curious about bugs, creepy crawlies, wigglers, buzzy and fluttery fliers, our Little Explorer of Insects kit includes a magnifying glass, footprint finder, identification cards, and a pencil with a notepad so they can record what they find.

If you like to encourage wild birds into your garden, then include children and build their enthusiasm with our Little Explorer of Birds kit, which includes binoculars so they can match the birds they see with the identification cards supplied.

With each kit, we have included the perfect explorer’s hat, which not only gets your little explorer ready to go out but also protects them from the sun.

Be Prepared To Get Muddy

To ensure children can work safely, comfortably, and confidently in the garden, it’s important to get them some gardening tools that have been specially scaled to suit their smaller size.

Our Colourful Gardening Gift Sets are ideal when young ones are first going into the garden and getting involved in sowing seeds and planting. They include a hardwearing trowel, spade and fork, along with matching gardening gloves and a handy bucket, so they can easily carry plants as they help you around the garden.

For children who will take pride in using the same tools as their parents, treat them to the RHS Growing Gardeners Collection by Burgon and Ball, which they can use year after year as their skills in the garden improve.

Another great way to teach children about plants and how they grow is to let them take charge of watering. This will not only help them learn what plants need to thrive, but also teach them care and coordination as they measure, lift, and pour. Make sure you have a children's sized watering can so they can achieve this with ease and be confident in their abilities.

Don’t forget that whilst children are out exploring, digging, weeding, measuring and collecting, you should protect their hands with a pair of gloves, such as our RHS Growing Gardeners children's gloves, made from stretchy material for a comfortable fit and protection from direct moisture.

Maintain Enthusiasm With Vigorous Growers

Whilst accomplished, experienced gardeners have the patience to wait for seeds to germinate and grow, when you first introduce the process of sowing seeds and watching plants grow, it's really important that you start with seeds with high germination rates, that sprout quickly, and that are fast growers. This allows younger ones with shorter attention spans to achieve quick results, helping them stay enthusiastic and excited about the whole process of growing their own.

Whilst plants which start from big, chunky seeds like sunflowers, nasturtiums, peas and beans are easy for little fingers to handle, we’ve also found an enchanting range of Plantable Children’s Books aimed at three to ten year olds. These not only provide an engaging story to feed their enthusiasm, but also embed the seeds in the pages, making it easy for them to start planting. Included within this range are Basil Who Built Bridges, Parsley Who Flew To The Rescue, Dill Who Foiled The Soil Snatchers and The Lettuce Who Wanted A New Look. All of these are not only easy to grow, it will also encourage the growers to eat what they have grown!

We hope that we have inspired you to get out into the garden with your children or young relatives this National Children’s Gardening Week. We would love to hear about how you got on and what memories you made!

Plus, don’t forget to take advantage of our 10% discount on our children's range, available for this week only.

Happy Gardening!