Top 25 Kid-Approved Plants & Flowers To Grow
- Marial Leisge
- Feb 27
- 2 min read
Inspired by Sunflower Houses by Sharon Lovejoy
Why Certain Plants “Stick” With Children
While teaching in the gardens at Heart’s Ease, Sharon Lovejoy observed that some plants act like magnets — drawing children back again and again.
What makes a plant irresistible to children?
Key Qualities Children Love:
Fast growth – Kids want to see quick results from their care.
Personality – Faces in pansies, snapdragons, sunflowers.
Fragrance – Scent creates lasting memory.
Texture – Soft, fuzzy, woolly leaves.
Vibrant color – Bright, riotous blooms.
Interactivity – Plants that can be played with, crafted, eaten, or transformed.
Most importantly:
Let children choose. Take them to nurseries. Let them follow what “twangs their heartstrings.”
Icon Key
🌱 Fast Grower
🦋 Pollinator Friendly
🍓 Edible
✋ Texture Play
🧚 Fairy / Imaginative Play
🌙 Night Bloomer
👃 Fragrant
🎨 Vibrant Color
🌿 Easy to Grow
Sprouts
Fast growers = instant confidence
These are your “I planted it and it WORKED!” plants.
🌱🍓 Radishes
Ready in ~25 days. Rainbow “Easter Egg” varieties are extra magical.
🌱🍓 Lettuce Mix
Quick cut-and-come-again harvest. Great for tiny hands.
🌱🍓 Sugar Snap Peas
Fast climbers. Sweet straight off the vine.
🌱🍓 Mint
Nearly indestructible. Container-friendly.
🌱🎨 Zinnias
Fast from seed. Big color payoff.
Blooms
Color + personality plants
These are your classic “faces in flowers” and bold statement blooms.
🌼🎨 Sunflowers
The ultimate OSK playhouse plant.
🌼🎨 Black-Eyed Susan
Cheerful and tough — thrives in RI summers.
🌼🎨 Purple Coneflower (Echinacea)
Bold petals, strong stems.
🌼🧚 Hollyhock
Tall and theatrical — doll skirts for days.
🌼🎨 Cosmos
Light, airy, whimsical movement.
Wings
Pollinator magnets + life cycle learning
These plants bring movement into the garden.
🦋 Milkweed (Native varieties)
Essential monarch host plant.
🦋 Bee Balm (Monarda)
Wild bursts of color. Hummingbird favorite.
🦋 Nasturtium
Easy edible annual. Loved by pollinators.
🦋 Lemon Balm
Soft scent. Bees adore it.
🦋 Columbine
Early-season nectar for spring pollinators.
Harvest
Edible, pickable, snackable
These make children feel like providers.
🍓 Cherry Tomatoes (small varieties)
Currant or marble-sized are perfect.
🍓 Short Carrots
Sweet, satisfying to pull.
🍓 Alpine Strawberries
Tiny “fairy berries” that thrive in RI.
🍓 Basil
Container-friendly. Smells like summer.
🍓 Pumpkins (mini varieties)
Scratch names as they grow.
Wonder
Imaginative + sensory-rich plants
These are the plants kids return to again and again.
🧚✋ Woolly Lamb’s Ear
Softest leaf in the garden. Sensory gold.
🧚🎨 Four O’Clocks
Open late afternoon — daily magic trick.
🧚👃 Lavender
Calming scent. Hardy in sunny RI soil.
🧚🌿 Thyme
Perfect fairy garden groundcover.
🧚🌿 Scarlet Runner Beans
Fast-growing teepee plant with red blooms.
Starting planning your child's garden with the OSK Gardens That Feed: Planning for Spring! A parent-child guide to organizing your garden using our Dinner Plate Method — where large, medium, and small plants each have their place at the table. This PDF walks families through choosing a sunny location, deciding what to grow, understanding plant families, and learning how plants “make friends” through companion planting and smart spacing.
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