Gardening is good for you and it's never too soon to start. It's a great way to get children out of doors and busy. With a bit of luck, they might succeed in growing something and make that magic connection between something that grows and something they eat.

They will also, of course, probably get gloriously muddy...

Whether it's a small patch of cress on a damp flannel, a giant sunflower, or a grow bag full of tomatoes, it could be the start of a lifelong passion. Sunflowers are wonderfully dramatic - and good for the birds later. But given the space, there's no reason why small children shouldn't grow "proper" vegetables - potatoes or beans are a good bet.

All they need is some seeds, a patch of garden, a window box or a flowerpot or two. And a bit of encouragement.

Although many will be happy with an adult-sized trowel or fork, there are plenty of child-sized tools and kit to help the job along.

Watch out with older children. Some of the tiny tools look very appealing and might be ideal for a toddler, but aren't always designed for heavy use. A tough eight-year-old could snap some of the small trowels very quickly - instant disillusionment that not even the combined forces of Charlie Dimmock and Alan Titchmarsh could put right.

We looked for tools that were small enough for children to handle comfortably but strong enough to do the job - we're not into "pretend" gardening. And if bright colours and gimmicky presentation add to the fun of it all, well we're all for that. If they plant the seeds of a passion for gardens, they'll be worth every penny.

OUR FAVOURITES

Many stores have buckets, spades and watering cans, but these are designed more for beaches than cabbage patches. But we also found some gardening gear that was fun and practical too.

ASDA

The range included brightly-coloured fork, trowel and rake for £1.78 - ideal for grown-up window boxes too.

But we particularly liked Asda's Eat What You've Grown Kit. For £4.97 you get a clear blue plastic lunch box - always useful - with a pack of cress seeds, some mung beans and dibbler, some compost and six little yellow flower pots. Very appealing.

Whether anyone would actually grow the cress and then make them into sandwiches for school or a picnic, is possibly unlikely, but the idea is there.

SAINSBURY'S

The child-sized gloves, aprons, etc were appealing but our favourite was their grasshopper trowel for £2.50.

WOOLWORTHS

The range includes nice little tote bag with pockets for a tough plastic fork, trowel and a trigger spray, which small boys will of course use as water pistol, but you can't have everything.

EARLY LEARNING CENTRE

They have a lot of gardening ideas, some more practical than others. The rake and hoe trolley, for instance, is just another pushalong toy really, but they have plenty of forks and trowels and spades and rakes and hoes.

We liked their Garden Tidy (£10) - fork, trowel, rake, hoe, watering can, spray bottle, pots and tags, all in a very professional looking carrier.

But what we liked best was the Grow Your Own range - a bucket, some compost, pots and labels and a packet of strawberry or tomato seeds, complete with very clear instructions for £7. Nicely packaged and with a good chance of success.

This year it could be a tomato or two. Then who knows? By the time they're ten it could be an allotment - and next step their very own gardening TV show.

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