Plant veggies/fruits that they like. My 3 yo DGD had a ball taking care of "her" flowers last yr(tomatoes). Also they love tools in their size,such as a small watering can, gloves ,etc. I have seen picks where someone used Morning Glories to make secret garden type enclosed areas. What about one special area per child where they can plant something of their choosing?
Tammy

Let them create their own "garden art." There are kits available (a family member gave my daughter one of these:
http://www.kazootoys.com/kids-stepping-stone.html?utm_source=kids-stepping-stone&utm_medium=shopping%2Bengine&utm_campaign=googlebaseaffiliate ) and she loved it.

You don't have to buy a kit to have fun though... one year we found a few relatively smooth rocks and helped the kids paint them with regular craft paint. Then they put them in front of their gardens as decorations. Surprisingly the paint held up for a few years without fading.

Some other things kids love:

1) Water. Do you have a water feature in your potager? If not, this is a good excuse to build or buy one. Just make sure it's not something they can drown in!

2) Animals and other critters. Fish for said water feature. Bird houses. Digging for worms. Butterfly garden. Look for toads.

3) Scavenger hunt. There are a million little things they can look for in the garden. Some examples... a potato flower, a worm, a grub, a weed, an oak leaf, a tomato seed, a sprig of dill, a sandstone rock, etc. etc. Naturally they can learn a lot by scavenger hunting as well. Don't forget to provide a prize of some sort for successful completion of the hunt!

4) Cooking. Have them pick some veggies and decide how to cook them. Instead of following a recipe, let THEM tell YOU how to cook the meal!

-Diggity

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Imperative

For a few years I worked as a garden liaison for some schools.
The kids loved pieces of logs to move around and it was interesting to see what they would do with them. Mostly they used them in tee-pees set with climbing vines. You can make tee pees with sunflowers and annual vines.

The younger children liked areas that were more tactile - containers with small stones, shale bits, sand and then playing within a garden setting.

They LOVED the cherry tomatoes the very most. The neighborhood children here love to come and pick the cherry tomatoes in the garden, and take flowers home. A friend set up a small series of vials filled with water on her windowsill, and every week her daughter came to pick flowers to refresh them last year. That was fun - a very nice "you've been a very good girl" outting.

As a child, my favorite garden activity was watering the plants and also scrubbing the freshly picked veggies in a bucket of water. I could stay at that one for hours (my mom used to hollar at me to leave the skins ON the potatoes, I'd scrub so hard!!!)

At schools I would have the kids mulch and side dress the plants. They really loved this activity, and their little hands were better at it than my big paws!!!

What a bunch of great ideas! Thank you all so much for posting them--I didn't even know there was a gardening with kids forum, whoops.
My own kids will be 2 this summer (twins) and I am fervently hoping to instill a love of gardening and nature in them...starting as soon as the snow melts ;)

I also have a "fairy" garden for the little nieces, that is really a butterfly garden with a bird bath and an archway leading into the garden.

After seeing so many great ideas for the veggie area, I think I'll put a table and chairs for tea in the fairy garden, with an arbor over it. This could be child-sized, but I'll just use dainty adult sized furniture so we can all enjoy it :)

On the arbor, I'm planning to grow Zephirine Drouhin (thornless, shade tolerant) roses and maybe hang a few potted fuchsias. I have some gallica roses across from this area that change color from pink to purple...very cool! It would be a fun place to drink tea or punch using a fancy fairy tea set!

Good luck with your planning...I'm sure you'll find a bunch of fun things to do with the little ones :)

Oh, also saw a cute idea for a "stump" table and two "toad" stools for child-sized seating. That would be cute in the veggie garden...if I can remember where I saw it and get the directions (LOL)

My garden is still a work in progress. My granddaughtes loved to pick things. One is a fussy eater but she liked sugar snap peas (just the peas not the pods). The other loves to look for alpine strawberries. They both got excited to pull carrots esp when the carrots had a funny shape. The family comes for dinner once a week so I like to have them help get something from the garden that I will serve. They also love cherry tomatoes so I keep containers so they can take some home. (DIL hates tomatoes.)
Last summer I sat them down in the garage to hunt for worms which meant they seperated worms from the worm farm so I could use the worm compost. A child-size table and chairs are so handy.
I hope to add a water feature but, in the meantime, they love the sprinkler on the lawn. There are attachments you can buy in the toy dept which makes sprinklers even more fun. Children love to fill plastic containers with water.

I realize you are looking for more decorative ideas but I think it's also important for children to learn the utilitarian aspects of gardening and harvesting.

This is not a practical feature, but it is easy and kids love it. Willow roots very easily, so poke some fresh cut willow twigs around the circumference of a 5-6 foot circle. As they grow, pull them inward and weave or tie at the top. A little garden house--charming.

Try researching how to grow pineapple under glass by cutting off the top of a fruit. That should be fun. Another idea that I have seen and love is a little fairy door that can be attached to a tree or placed in a slope and possibly give the fairy a mailbox. The children can name the fairy, and develop their own stories about the fairy. Another idea to add to the mystique would be to have ribbon streamers hanging from elevated places.

For Middle Earth fans, I have also seen Hobbit doors!

So many great ideas! The ribbon streamers would be fun in the fairy garden...and the fairy door :)

Willow roots sound like a lot of fun.

Cherry tomatoes, alpine strawberries mini-carrots and baby peas...all fun food (and healthy) that I plan to include in the garden. Good to know your granddaughters enjoy eating them...maybe I can get my nieces to try them. Fresh fruits and veggies are so much tastier than the ones you find in the store!

I found an arbor with two built-in benches (for the big people to sit in) and I'm still looking for a child-sized seating area. I love the mushroom table and chairs, but I don't know if I'm that crafty with cement (LOL)

Also, got some ideas from other forums for a hopscotch made out of stepping stones and painted with numbers (1-10) and I thought I'd add a tic-tac-toe game. This could be stepping stones too (in a 3 x 3 pattern) and the kids could toss colored bean bags with x and o. The older the kids, the further away they are from the stones. Sounded like fun, and since I'm using 5' wide grass paths, it's easy to lay the stones in and take them out later, if the kids outgrow them :)

My DS's class took a field trip a couple of years ago to a farm and saw a pizza garden. It was a round plot that was divided into "slices". Planted in each "slice" were pizza ingredients - tomatoes for sauce, bell peppers, onions, you get the idea! They were so excited to see the pizza ingredients grown in the shape of the pizza and couldn't wait to sample a taste of the real pizza that was created from the harvest!

Marikay- That would be fun for the kids! What a good idea :)

I have a one year old and a three year old, and I left a large 5-6 foot wide swatch of "dirt" open down the middle of my enclosed garden. Since my soil, without amendments, is actually SAND, its like a perfect little sandbox right in the middle, so they can play and enjoy the garden, but I can actually get something done without having to constantly remove them from the areas that I added compost and made into beds( I dont have any tangible borders). And little ones really enjoy the magic of harvesting root crops, my daughter ADORED harvesting radishes last fall,every one was like a new treasure discovered!

Jennoz- What a great idea! The kids have somewhere to play, while you are able to work in the garden. I agree, radishes are always fun :)

Oh my goodness!! Tea in the fairy garden!! How fun will that be? I want to be your niece.

Anyone is welcome for tea, but the arbor might be turning into climbing roses around the porch. It will be pretty and I don't have to nail anything to the house! We're still doing tea in the fairy garden, but with gallica roses around the tea table...they change color, like magic :)

Check out the cottage garden forum conversations side. We just started Thursday tea day! Every Thursday, we all try to have tea, even though we can't actually sit together. This week (if it's nice) we're trying tea outside...garden, porch, deck, closest chair we collapse in after gardening LOL.

Everyone's welcome :)

lavender Lass, I found this article today, and immediately thought of your post. Check it out, Sounds like a lot of fun, and is probbaly beautiful to boot.
Tammy

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunflower house

Tammy- That's a great idea! The only problem we have in our area is that yellow jackets (and other bees) LOVE sunflowers! It would be perfect, though, to do something like that against the back fence of the veggie garden. I don't care if the yellow jackets are back there and the kids could still have fun planting them :)

ooopppss! Never thought about the bees. I have no answers for that,lol
Tammy

Update on kids' areas in the garden. The fairy garden is working out very well. The kitchen garden is still in progress, but we're almost ready to add the hopscotch stones and tic tac toe. Any other ideas?

We thought about the pizza garden, but decided to use Spidey instead. It's the top of an old arbor that looks a bit like a spider and the kids are planting beans, peas, gourds and small melons...on and around it. Here's a picture :)

{{gwi:1151541}}

My mom also had a cute idea. One of my nephew's is a huge Jimmy Johnson fan (Nascar) so we got some Lowe's buckets, drilled holes in the bottom and planted cherry tomatoes and climbing beans in them. They're on either side of one of the arches. I'll post a picture in the next few days, but here's the arch a few months ago...when we still had snow, in late March.

{{gwi:1151542}}

In the middle of the garden, next to the arbor, we're having a small "Peter Rabbit potager" with blocks making a cross path down the middle and four small beds for tomatoes and mini veggies...lots of lettuce, spinach, mini carrots, little cabbage, etc. It should be pretty cute :)

Hepatica, what a neat idea! My 4 yr, old loves little "houses", & will "make" one out of anything!
I'm wondering...... could I do something like that with lima beans? Would like to plant some yet, & am running out of space!

I love the idea of the spidey arbor. Very cool. How about trying some dark colored morning glory and purple pole beans on it to give it some spider-y color.

I thought of something else that's fun for kids (non-squeamish ones). My son really enjoys hunting in my garden for unusual bugs, etc. Last year he thought it was awesome to find those tomato hornworms covered with the parasitic wasp eggs. He was a bit leery of the hummingbird moths until we googled them and read their description. Here's a pic of one of his all-time favorite finds in the garden:

Oh, many possibilities for fun in the garden just by using your imagination & giving time to children. These are some things I've done with my kids & my great-niece & nephew.

-Play hide & seek using a variety of animal figures easily carried about by children at a price you can afford to have them chipped. Even kids' meal toys work as minis. Leave them out spring-fall until needing to put away during frosty winter weather.
-Allow some of the mini plastic toys to bathe in the birdbaths. Children can't resist playing in the water.
-Play I spy describing what you see in the garden.
-Clear paths for them to know where to walk. Encourage them to patrol the garden looking for ... a butterfly, a bird, a pink flower, a ripe tomato or strawberry, etc. without you right behind them. Then they come back to you where you're in the garden to get you to come see. That way you get garden work done & they burn off a bit of energy in the double backing to you. Helps you be less frustrated with having a child in the garden with you when there's work to be done. (Can also have them prepare the table for snack or lunch, pick flowers, set table, pick garnishes, etc. If you've taught them which flowers are edible, they will enjoy snipping those, too. Be sure to communicate which & how much are okay for cutting that day, so you're not devastated by a crew cut kid job.
-Give a hint of something that you know is already in there, so it's easier for them to find.
-Kid size garden tools & gloves.
-Kid size chair or oversized chair so you can sit together on the same one.
-Have chairs easy to move to shade if a hot day or have chairs in both locations sun & shade.
-Bubbles - as a surprise you pull out of your basket or bag as a regular part of gardening together. There are spill proof bubbles as well, which are ideal for younger kids.
-Let them paint structures with water & clean paintbrushes on a dry day. Craft sponge brushes or the cheap dollar store brushes work just fine and if they get too dirty to clean up you can toss them. The water makes it look darker & it dries soon enough not leaving a trace of their "painting". If you have some mild cleaner & a scrub brush nearby they might even clean the furniture for you at the same time. Be prepared to get a bit wet.
-On hot days make fruit juice popsicles the night before or early in morning to take out during a break.
-Take a beverage & snack out with you in a small cooler.
-Planned breaks from working to sit, snack, or play games.
-Have a back pack filled with teddy bear picnic items: book, mini tea set, tablecloth & napkins, & of course the bear.
-Have a basket & kid craft scissor just for them to harvest herbs, salad greens, peas, or other easy to harvest things that they can also carry in the basket to the hose to wash. Then include their things in the meal preparation for the family later. Ask them for "their oregano" for the spaghetti, which they'll proudly offer. Compliment them on the aroma & be sure to compliment them when serving the family meal. Let them use herbs as garnish or help them make tea for everyone & serve it.
-Plan ahead a bit for the gardening time to include work & play as kids won't want to work as long as you or stay on task nearly as well. Sometimes, by asking them what they'd like to do you might be surprised that turning compost with the large pitchfork is their desire, not playing checkers in the shade. Be prepared to finish what they start & can't.
-Seems like anything mini is a delight to school age kids. Give them a mystery to solve or a job to do & they're on their way. Younger preschool children need a lot more direct supervision & assistance, but can still learn to enjoy the garden space if you have something just for them. They especially want to copy their older siblings. Small cups with a 1 qt or less bucket can keep them busy scooping & pouring as long as you refill the water a few times. Don't expect them to actually water anything.
-Oh, & let them have an area of the garden to do what they wish. They may or may not want to grow what you intended for that space. They may just want to have the dirt to dig in or bury a rock or something even though that's not what you want to happen. Give them a choice between a few seeds to plant as well as a transplant, so they don't lose patience waiting for sprouting. Help them know where to walk as well because they might step on what was sown. Mulch may help mark the outside of the planting area. Let them decorate popsicle sticks are markers or on paper tags you slip into sealed baggies to bury partway in soil.
-Sometimes a container garden placed near the other garden plants is all they need to be satisfied with having their own space.
-For perennial vegetables & fruits it's nice to include them in the shopping, planting, labeling, & upkeep over the years especially if you let it be theirs. Use their name along with the plant and compliment them on the crop even if you're doing most of the work to make it successful. Our married daughter now has a strawberry patch at their home from plants she selected at 10 years old along with a bunch of other kitchen garden perennials. During her teen years she had lost interest in gardening, but now that she has her own "bit of earth" is hooked on gardening again drawing on childhood experiences in the garden with me & her grandfather.
-They remember the little bits of gardening information you talk about while in the garden & will repeat it back to you or you'll hear them telling someone else about what you did together. They soon become the experts... Also if you use a bit of child-like imagination to call things it makes it more interesting to them. Spreading used coffee grounds is feeding the worms breakfast or smoothies. Looking for ripe tomatoes is hunting for jewels. Looking for zucchini big enough to grill slices for dinner can be hunting for man zucchini or burger zucchini. If you know you have a whopper cucumber or zucchini in there ask them to find the giant hiding in the garden & say you'll keep watch to make sure it's safe to pick... Then go help them because they're scratchy. Things like that help them have fun while working with you.

It's good for me to keep in mind not to work my teen son too hard though he is a great laborer especially with structures, compost, hauling organic matter, etc, and enjoys taking photos of plants & insects in the garden, but has no interest in playing in it now. He respects the garden spaces I've taken over for plants and comes to tell me he's damaged something while mowing or playing ball with friends. He is also good with any younger visitors like cousins helping them be careful around my flowering plants or telling them what's okay to pick or not based on what I've told him in the past.

Can you tell I'm enthusiastic about kids in the garden? Enjoy the garden with them most of all & pass it on to the next generation.

Corrine