Magical Children’s Garden Design Ideas 2023

There is something so wonderful about gardens to a child’s eye.

Like a mini jungle, little footsteps seek out the adventure and wonder amidst the towering plants. There are so many things to discover, colors to look at, and dirt to play in. The touch and feel of different leaves amuse little hands. With a little extra enthusiasm, you can add some elements to your garden to make it even more magical for a child to play in. My kids really like to watch squirrels run around, so we’ve made some DIY squirrel feeders in the past. But be careful with the squirrel feeders because sometimes the squirrels eat up other parts of your garden.

After all, gardening with your children creates memories. Why not make it even more magical?

Magical Garden Ideas for Kids

Here I have listed some magical gardens for kids.

Kids Garden Design by Sophie’s Patch

Kids Garden Fort from Traditional Home

Magical Vegetables for a Children’s Garden

There are some vegetables that are a little more magical  for children to grow as they’re related to some of the childhood classics.

• Pumpkins will easily remind children of Cinderella. The large vining plants spread far and wide in all sorts of directions and children can carve the pumpkins for Halloween. Try heirloom and Cinderella pumpkins.
• Jack and the Bean Stalk will have a whole new meaning when kids can plant the large seeds themselves and watch the vegetables climb upwards, open pretty flowers and pop out beans.
• Vegetables that little hands can help open are fun like peas, shell beans and edamame.
• Colorful veggies add another dynamic. There’s purple, speckled or yellow snap beans, rainbow carrots, Easter egg radishes or even purple cauliflower or peas. You’ll be surprised at the variety of  colors many vegetables come in! When selecting your seeds in catalogs look for the colorful fun ones.

Teepees for a Magical Garden

Is there anything more fun for kids to sit under than a teepee? Using large bamboo poles you can make a teepee and tie string across each pole and grow peas, beans or malabar spinach (a vining heat loving leafy green) up them. Teepee’s will be easier for little children to sit under than for older kids.

We planted and grew a bean teepee for our kids as a playhouse.

Magical Garden Sunflower Fort

Sunflowers are beautiful to children and the height is amazing even to adults. By growing them in a circle or rectangle with a gap for an opening you can create a fort for them to play in. A nice bonus is that the inside will offer some shade from the hot summer sun, and kids can grow beans, morning glories or peas up the sunflowers for an extra crop. A sunflower fort is good for kids that are too big to fit under a teepee (even grown ups can enjoy them!).

Magical Flower Garden

Flowers have an amazing effect on children. There is something fun and engaging about hand picking flowers of all sort of shapes, sizes and colors. By growing flowers for your children’s garden you’re also helping out the bees by giving them pollen and nectar which they in turn help to pollinate your food.

Some favorite garden flowers for kids

• Calendula
• Zinnias
• Cosmos flowers
• Sunflowers
• Nasturtiums
• Wildflowers

Magical Garden Fairy Wands

Using flowers with long stems (or even sticks), your kids can have a fairy wand from the garden. My favorite ones are the allium flowers (onions, garlic, leeks that have gone to seed) as  they have large pretty lobe flowers with stronger stems. I also love bachelor buttons for fun little ones.

Creating a magical garden for your kids is fun and it allows kids to love gardening even more!