Kid-Friendly Fall Garden Ideas

Gather a few fall leaves from your garden and turn them into works of art. Press your leaves between a glass frame, and display them on your mantle all year 'round.

Butterflies can be a beautiful addition to your yard or garden. Fill a jar or tin can with some colorful flowers--the brighter the better because butterflies are attracted to color--and add a little sponge or cotton ball soaked in sugar water. Soon you'll see butterflies flitting all over your garden. Add an artificial butterfly to the can for the full effect!

Keep your seed packets in a brown envelope inside a blank journal, and let your kids draw the flowers when they see them sprout. This way you'll remember what each seed looked like as a flower and you and your kids can replant your favorites next year.

Dress up your fall flowers with homemade painted pots. Lay out some newspaper and let your kids give your ordinary clay pots a makeover with fun fall colored paints.

Grab a few stray branches from your yard and add them to a potted planter pumpkins and gourds to create a DIY tree. String a few colored holiday lights over the branches, and you've got the perfect night light for your kids to play in the yard.

Your kids may love collecting leaves in the fall, but they won't last forever. Preserve a few leaves by dipping them into some liquid wax (you can use a melted candle or some melted beeswax). Hang your leaves to dry, and use them for home decorations through the year.

Your mini pumpkins can be more than just decoration - hollow out the inside, fill with soil, and plant some herbs and spices. They'll look great on your windowsill, and they'll make your fall cooking even tastier.

Plant some fall veggies in mini pots and line them on your windowsill. To remember which pot holds your leeks, radishes, or turnips, stick a fork in each and slip the seed packet card between the prongs.

Plant your fall garden in a pot that's painted to look like a jack-o-lantern.

Craft these unique fall vases by cutting off the tops of squash and filling them with your favorite, bold-colored flowers to display on your kitchen table. Don't worry if they're slightly lopsided - each vase should be a one-of-a-kind.

Turn your bird bath into a beautiful birdseed feeder by hollowing out a pumpkin and filling it with seeds.

Before you trash all your hard-raked leaves, remember that they make the perfect fertilizer for you garden in the fall. Have your kids help you gather leaves from your yard and mix them into the soil around the floor of your garden for a better bloom next year.

Make this fall photo album keepsake by scrapbooking some autumn colors and words to the cover. Then, get your kids together and add a few snapshots of them jumping in the leaves, raking the garden, and playing outside - make a new page every fall to add to the album.

Gather up all the mini pumpkins you can find, and use them to decorate your kids' tree house.

Slip some rain boots on your little one and have her help you rake the garden and water the new plants. Teach her about the importance of tilling the garden each fall to prepare the soil for winter and for healthier plants next year.

Copyright &copy 2012 Meredith Corporation.