USEFUL TOOLS

USEFUL TOOLS
For kids who garden
Gloves: "Gardening is a messy activity," says Katherine Johnson, manager of the Children's Garden under construction at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
Adult tools: Plastic tools may be fun for toddlers to bang around, but let older kids use solid grown-up ones, Johnson says. "If you have to dig in soil with a plastic trowel, it's not going to be a real good experience."
A ruler: "You can write down the change in plants from day to day," Karen Kennedy says. "Kids love to see change."
A magnifying glass: Good for examining bugs or tiny sprouts, author Lynne Cherry says.
Grandparents: "A lot of grandparents know how to garden, but the last generation has lost a lot of knowledge," Cherry says. She encourages grandparents to get together with grandkids to grow things.
Marigold seeds: As long as you have a sunny spot, "you can't go wrong," Johnson says.
"The Gardening Book" by Jane Bull (DK Publishing, 48 pages, $12.99) offers a range of garden-related projects for children. Some are good for winter, such as a Mr. Potato Head-like creature with green grass hair growing from a head made of sawdust-stuffed pantyhose.