Ask the experts: What products, workshops or services do you offer for kids?

Diane St John, Retail Store Manager
NATUREWORKS, NORTHFORD, CONN.

“We have a wonderful small children’s garden, and children can walk through, touch the plants and see the insects. We have a wood crate filled with sticks, rocks, seashells, dried flowers, seed pods and more. They can use the materials to make a fairy house in any garden they choose here. The houses stay up until weather [interferes].

We also have our Grow Organic Kids program. We have had seed planting, pansy planting, bird house making, bug searching and a butterfly workshop. While they are making their planter, we teach them about soil and talk to them while they’re working. We keep the groups small at eight kids or so because the workshops are very hands-on. Our fairy festivals have also been fun and well-attended. We had 50 kids at our first festival so now we limit it to 15, and it costs $20 a child. They make crowns with sticks and ivy, and stick wands with ribbons, and create a houseplant fairy garden they can take home. We might not make money on that, but usually parents buy extra items. It has brought us new customers as well. We love kids who come in and always reach out to get them involved in our gardens.”

Amy Draiss, Office Manager
DAYTON NURSERIES, NORTON, OHIO

“We put in a cedar swing set from a local business that builds them and a playground two years ago. It has a little tower children can walk up, a slide and a couple of swings, and it seems popular. We have a couple of festivals as well, and the fall festival is geared toward children. Usually we have some kind of petting zoo, bouncy houses, hay rides, crafts and Outback Ray, who brings different kinds of animals like snakes and turtles. Not only do the kids remember the experience, but they’ll ask their parents to come back. And we need to get kids involved in gardening in some way, even if it’s just that they remember coming to the garden center. We plan to do mommy and me fairy teas this year as well.”

Diane Hutchinson, General Manager
WALTER’S GREENHOUSES & GARDEN CENTRE PARIS, ONTARIO

“We have a play with a picnic table, playhouse and some small toys. At spring break, which is always the second week of March, we have activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Kids can plant a grassy head (a planter with sprouted cat grass), or plant a moss ball planter, which has English ivy. We have anywhere from 200 to 350 kids during their break. At Easter we plant a breakfast for the Easter bunny and [offer] pictures with the Easter bunny that are emailed to the parent. The breakfast they plant up [includes] a pansy, parsley, lettuce and broccoli, and they get to decorate the pot after it is planted. It is not a great money-maker, but it brings the kids and parents in. We do hear from our customers that their kids love coming here, and they ask to come after the event to get some plants. This will be our sixth year planting the breakfast, and people really love it.”