I once met a man who didn’t buy his toddler crayons. Too frustrating, he said. How can she learn to love art when she’s given such clumsy tools?. He bought her high quality colored pencils instead.
Many of us buy our children and grandchildren the garden tool equivalent of crayons; plastic tools that crumple and crack with the slightest use. Or worse, we let a pint-sized gardener struggle with a man-sized shovel; how can she learn the joy and elegance of a properly balanced tool, properly used?
There are well-made garden tools available for especially children; even some that are reasonably priced. Or you can modify what you have.
Look for handles proportionate to the child’s height, or cut them down, remembering to sand and round the ends.. Many hand tools are now ‘lady’ sized and may well fit an older child perfectly. Children’s work gloves are available in many catalogs and garden centers. There are even child-sized safety glasses – a habit that should be both taught and modeled.
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Comments: 28
I've never been able to figure out tools for beginners that are flimsy and hard to control. Seems like they're trying to make people want to give up. People sometimes buy their kids horrible musical instruments to start with. Very bad idea.
I did give them their own spray bottles and cleaning cloths (I put a touch of vinegar in theirs) and I'd clean with my vinegar and water. They loved it. They were in charge of all the close to the floor places. They were thrilled.
My first husband's grandfather became the sole support of his family when he was younger than 10. If they have to do it, they can.
I buy the tools, and tell them they don't have to share.
I know this is highly off topic, and there aren't even any garden tools involved. Nevertheless, it's quite similar in to the more commonly mentioned Missing Sock Mystery. Baffling.
When my sons were still young, I bought some wonderful garden tools for them. They were high quality, with real wooden handles and the "business end" was made from metal of a good quality. Years later I found myself using these same tools for some of my own projects... a mini-spade can get into all sorts of places that a full-size one can't! (Unfortunately, as my boys grew enough to manage full-size yard and garden tools, they lost all desire to "do what daddy is doing.")