Pumpkins - you definitely need pumpkins.

How about making the bean tepee out of sunflower stalks?
You can also inscribe a child's name into the pumpkin when it's small, have children make plant or row markers

How about a ABC garden. Have the kids find plants with all the letters of the Alphabet. Or a pizza garden Tomatoes, basil, peppers you name it. Try the book Sunflower Houses by Sharon Lovejoy or her new one Roots Shoots Buckets & Boots.

Depends on what age. I did a five senses garden - lambs ear, scented geraniums, bird bath (sound,etc. There was dinosaur garden -- prehistoric plants, etc. Literature garden (nursery rhymes, books, etc.) fairy garden (kids adore this!),ABC garden, butterfly garden and then there was the bug maze. That was in addition to the vegetable plots that each class had. Just a few ideas. Be whimsical. I saw great gourds or squashes growing on trellises at Hortus in Pasadena. Kids would love them. Don't know what they where though! Tee Pee is great -- the vines will take over but keep it trimmed and replant from time to time. Have fun with it.

A garden at an elementary school near us is quite nice. In addition to standard raised beds with easy things like radishes, nasturiums, snow peas, etc. there is a very nice courtyard garden in the school entry way. about 25' by 25' with mounded earth. Probably 4 feet raised in the middle like a shield volcano. There is a gentle spiral path coiling up to the top mulched with shredded bark/wood chips. The paths are lined with river rocks painted by all the children in garden motifs. here and there they have stepping stones made form concrete poured into pizza boxes then marbles, beach glass, tile pressed in. In the late spring the area is planted with sunflowers and gourds. When the kids come back to school they can see how big everything got and harvest. Then it is planted up for the winter with pansies, ornamentla cabbages, kale, calendula. Wineter hardy things, It is quite lovely. Claire

Edible stuff, tactle stuff,
Obvoisly no chemicals or poisoness plants.
Web sites devoted to this,,do search.
Sharon Lovejoy Books nice.
Libraries for info

Have fun Cheers AMS

Cherry tomatos! My baby learned to craw to the garden to get the tomatos (you have to keep an eye on the baby because they can be choking hazards. I would let him pick the tomato and then, I would open it in two to make it safe. My 5 years old is a fan of carrots. He likes the idea of a surprise on havarst day. And most defenitively: pumpkins!
We do a lot of garden related crafts to. plant marks, bird houses, irish soap bags (to keep the deer alway)
dani

I would do bean towers--planted with an assortment of beans so the kids can harvest them and see the differences in coloring and size (read Jack and the Bean Stalk).

Maybe plan on making a giant vegetable soup with some of the harvest when school starts in the fall (book to read: Stone Soup).

Do a rainbow garden--with a cloud of white flowers at one end and a cauldron of gold flowers at the other end. Use annual mixes for the arcs--red, pink, white impatiens; gold, yellow, orange pansies; blue, purple, lavender petunias. Use plastic edging between the arcs.

I'll share some ideas from our own childrens garden..

A maze of any sort.. I can hear the giggles already!

Also, my kids love anything larger than them. How about a secret corner with tall grasses or bamboo in which to hide?

Butterfly Bushes.. a big hit in my children's garden.

I also 'planted' large apple tree branches/trunks to represent each one of my children. I decorated them with salvaged items.. bedsprings for hair, circut breaker eyes.. they get fresh items each spring, such as; bandana's around their necks, straw hats. Rustic & wimsical.

The 'Apple Trunk Children' flank the sides of a honeysuckle covered pergola they must walk through to enter their garden. There is a sign that is handpainted & hangs down from the entrance which reads "Childrens Garden" (with the 's' backwards, of course!) There is more than one entrance/exit (including a secret one) and garden rooms in their private garden.. makes the garden more fun to explore.

They have their own spaces to grow anything they want.. some popular items are veggies, strawberries, cutting flowers, sunflowers. They have several fruit trees in a small 'orchard' behind the playhouse. Any plant with texture, unusual markings, LARGE leaves. There is a Beauty Bush in the center because it has the most peculiar purple berries in the fall. Large stalks of Ruhbarb. Yucca. Red Hot Pokers. Fragrant flowers or shrubs (Lilac, Mock Orange). Herbs. It's a good opportunity to teach what is good to eat, what shouldn't be eaten. They have Trumpet Vine for the hummingbirds & it also houses a birds nest already.. I couldn't have planned that one any better! Curly Willow. Red-Stemmed Dogwood shrub. Lambs Ear. Prickly Pear. Money Plant. Pussy Willows.

I also 'planted' a TALL branch that had fallen from our apple tree (must be hard wood)and cemented it in the ground. (You've got to strip the leaves & prune all the small, flimsy branches) We bought birdhouses and feeders & painted them. I hung them all over the branches, keeping the feeders down low (to refill) and the houses up high (for nesting birds). Every year, we have baby birds and a variety of birds to view at the feeders. (if you can keep the squirrels away)

If adding any furniture or accents.. paint it bright periwinkle, orange or sunshine yellow. Stay away from pastel flowers & go for the impact of bright primary colors. Who cares if it's a mish-mash & embarrasses our color wheel.. the kids will love it!

Hope this helped! :>)

Plant willow saplings and train them into arches and willow houses (plant a circle of willows and as they grow taller, weave and tie them into a dome.

For quicker results, plant a sunflower house - cultivate the edges of a large square, plant seeds, but leave room for a front door!

These are some great ideas! I'm still looking for help designing a children's vegetable garden. Any other suggestions...and even better, pictures?

I once did a chocolate garden with my kids. I planted things like chocolate mint, chocolate soldiers, chocolate bell pepper, chocolate poppies...and then, when I had everything planted, we went to the river and collected perfectly shaped palm size river rocks, painted them yellow, red, and green, then put a big "M" on them like M&M's..to line around the garden with...they loved it!

What a great idea! I may borrow that one :)

Our organization is planning a children's garden primarily for children 5 to 12 years old. Does anyone have experience with the most successful plot design for such a garden? We need to decide whether to have large, shred beds or smaller individual beds for each child. Thank you.