On a personal note it is fantastic that two of my loves are so compatible, children and the landscape. Kids are so amazing in the garden, they want to be with nature, they want to be covered in mud, to water each other (and a few plants that get in the way), and to grow things, anything, but some of the following are great things to do with kids, how they can help and how they can be enthralled by their gardens.
When I was a child I cut off a quarter of my parents lawn to grow vegetables, I have no idea why my parents let me do this, as I did make helluva mess, but I loved it, and I also won the Brownie Guide Pumpkin growing competition! so all wasn't lost. Needless to say my parents have restored their lawn to its original state.
Here's me in all my roller skating glory, proud as punch with my sunflowers (and only slightly gutted that my sisters were much taller then mine!) How many of your childhood memories are within your back garden? Cricket? BBQ's?Sprinklers and Swimming, and the day I learnt to ride without stabilisers and ended in the middle of the very English rose garden!
But this just shows that gardens can change how they grow with you as a family, and meet the needs of the children at their current age and stage. Many of my designs come with phased plans, a time for the trampoline, and then a time for the adults retreat. Small sand and rock gardens for trucks and fairies, are easily designed in to the front of garden beds, and replanted.
Fruit, vegetables and flowers are fantastic plants for children to grow, many veggies have a very quick time from planting to eating, so they are always a winner, cherry tomatoes are the best, blueberries and carrots in garden pots can be a huge hit. The idea is to have a great experience and choosing ones that produce a yummy treat are always the winner, strawberries, watermelons and even potatoes in a bucket. Let them get mucky and eat straight from the plants..