Even though I have always been an outdoor person, I do realize that some people just don’t care for the great outdoors… even if the outdoors is just a few feet literally out their door and they can find it challenging to get outside and have fun with their little ones. Kids these days spend 50% less time outside than they did 20 years ago.

One thing we spend a lot of time doing together as a family is working in the yard. Although this might not sound like fun, this is one of our 3 year olds favorite things to do… she loves to “garden.” We do not have your idyllic flat neighborhood backyard. We live on somewhat of a rolling lot with lots of trees, we have spent quite a bit of time clearing and cleaning the lots and of course planting new items. But this is such a fun and budget friendly activity for us to all do. I just love letting our little one help pick the flowers when we go to the garden center.

As a person who enjoys gardening I try to sneak in little gardening tidbits about how some flowers grow in shade and some in sun… just simple little things, on our visits. Our daughter even has her own little flower garden where she can pick until all the flowers are gone and she has herbs like rosemary & mint where she can walk by and rub her hands.

We have seen some amazing things while in our own backyard…we have seen all sorts of bugs, a bat, lizards, a few snakes, of course squirrels & chipmunks, lots of birds and their nests, some cool natural plants like moss and mushrooms and my daughters personal favorites- lots of butterflies. Spending time outside just comes naturally to us.

It seems like in light of the economy there has been a big shift and people are doing a lot more gardening, even our little ones favorite shows like “Sesame Street”, “Kai-Lan”, “OSO”, “Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse” and “Max and Ruby” (just to name a few of our favorites) are showing their favorite characters growing flowers and veggies.

So, what if spending time outside doesn’t come naturally to you, but your little one has expressed an interest in gardening this year?

Well, one thing you can do is take advantage of great new site called YourGardenShow.com and turn planning some outdoor “gardening” fun into a really fun activity that is sure to provide hours of entertainment and a lifetime of memories. Plus, this can be very budget friendly because YourGardenShow.com is free and you can start small.

YourGardenShow.com even sent over some great tips on how PPP parents can use their site to plan out some budget conscious, family friendly summer fun…

Disclosure: PennyPinchingParent.com is not receiving any sort of compensation for sharing any of this information or YourGardenShow.com with PPP readers.