Homestead Projects to Do with Your Kids

Homesteading is a wonderful opportunity to teach children valuable life skills while spending quality time together outdoors. Whether you’ve been living the rural life for years or have only recently made the move to the country, involving your kids or grandchildren in homestead projects helps them build a connection to the land and a sense of responsibility.

These simple, safe ways to engage kids in rural life encourage hands-on participation and spotlight sustainability. Designed to not only teach practical skills but also create lasting memories, involving your children in your farm and gardening projects will allow them to take pride in their role on the family homestead.

Planting a Family Vegetable, Herb, and Fruit Garden

Starting a small garden with your kids, or simply providing them their own raised bed or garden area, is a fantastic way to introduce them to the joys of homesteading. Growing vegetables, herbs and fruits teaches children where their food comes from, the importance of sustainability, and how to nurture living things. You can start small with easy-to-grow summer crops like carrots, lettuce, and sunflowers, which are quick to grow and keep kids engaged.

Older children can help with planting a wider variety of crops like tomatoes, beans, or herbs such as basil, mint, and rosemary. If you have more space, adding a fruit patch with strawberries or dwarf fruit trees can provide an exciting and rewarding experience. Kids can participate in every stage of the gardening process, from sowing seeds to watering, weeding, and finally harvesting. Not to mention the joy of being able to cook with ingredients they nurtured themselves.

This hands-on experience helps children understand responsibility, patience, and the rewarding feeling of growing their own food. You can make it more fun by letting them personalize their garden with their favorite plants or creating a garden journal to track progress.

Building Bird Feeders and Birdhouses 

Building birdhouses and bird feeders is a simple, creative way to get kids involved in homesteading. Not only does this project provide shelter and food for local wildlife, but it also teaches kids about the needs of birds and how to care for their environment in a way that doesn’t feel like a chore.

Start by helping younger children build simple birdhouses using wood, recycled materials, or even natural elements like logs. They can decorate the birdhouses with non-toxic watercolor paints, pinecones, acorns, or leaves, making them personalized and fun. For bird feeders, you can use peanut butter and bird seed, or build more elaborate wooden feeders as kids get older. This is also a great way to recycle, as you can use water bottles and paper towel tubes as the base for your project. 

Once the birdhouses and feeders are set up, kids can observe and learn to identify different bird species visiting their creations. It’s a rewarding project that teaches them about the importance of supporting local wildlife while encouraging creativity and sustainable practices that will help your homestead survive for generations. Since you’ve focused on using eco-friendly supplies your feeder or house is mostly bio-degradable as well, which makes this a great craft you can do on repeat.

Taking Care of Common Homestead Animals

If your kids enjoy interacting with the birds on property, you can gradually ease them in to animal husbandry. Raising small animals like chickens, rabbits, goats, and sheep is an integral part of many homesteads, and involving kids in the care of these animals teaches them empathy and land management. Depending on their age, children can take on various tasks like feeding, watering, grooming and cleaning animal enclosures.

Younger children should be introduced to simple animal care tasks like collecting eggs from the chicken coop, feeding the rabbits, or filling water troughs for goats and other small animals. As they grow older, kids can take on more involved tasks such as grooming  and cleaning shelters, helping with health checks, and assisting with larger animals like pigs and cows.

Taking care of animals also gives kids a deeper understanding of where their food comes from and the work that goes into keeping animals healthy and safe. This hands-on involvement fosters a sense of responsibility and appreciation for the animals that support the homestead. Make this project more fun by feeding animals by hand, giving them funny names, or imitating animal noises.

Washing and Maintaining the Tractor

For many families, the tractor is more than just a workhorse; it’s a connection to past generations. That sense of pride in learning how to drive, and in taking care of something valuable, is the same pride your kids can experience as they help maintain the family tractor and care for the land and animals of your homestead.

Involving your children in washing and maintaining the tractor gives them a chance to be a part of the family legacy. Once they become old enough to drive the tractor themselves, the moment will become a full-circle memory. Just as you were once guided by your parents, you’ll have the chance to teach your children how to operate the tractor safely and confidently. There’s a sense of pride that comes with inheriting a well-maintained piece of machinery, knowing the hard work it represents, and feeling the weight of responsibility to take care of it for future generations.

Crafting with Nature

Homesteading offers plenty of creative opportunities to get kids involved in hands-on, nature-based crafts. These projects not only engage children’s imaginations but also teach them about the value of using natural resources. Utilizing plants foraged from the backyard to create something new is a fun activity that highlights the values of conservation and off-grid living.

Start by showing them how to make paper from plant fibers or recycled scraps of paper. With simple tools like a blender and a mesh screen, kids can blend plant material (like flowers, leaves, or grasses), and then press it into sheets to dry. Dyeing clothes with plants like berries, turmeric, or beets is another great activity that allows kids to experiment with color while learning about sustainable fabric treatment. Flower pressing is also an easy activity for younger children, and it can turn into a beautiful way to preserve favorite blooms. The added bonus is that these homemade creations can be used around the homestead and preserved for years, from using pressed flowers in decorations and bookmarks to cuddling under their plant-dyed blankets with pride.

Connect With Yanmar to Plan Your Homestead

At Yanmar, we’re committed to supporting your homesteading dreams. Whether you're working on a small vegetable garden, building a birdhouse with your kids, or getting the whole family involved in property maintenance, we have the tools, resources, and expertise to help make your vision a reality. From reliable tractor and UTV equipment to insightful guides and videos, we can help you build and maintain your homestead. 

Connect with us online or give us a call at 678-551-7369 to speak with a member of our Customer Experience Team.

Back