No (I mean YES) kidding! — Trends in kid stuff

Garden center friends, today I’m here to banish the bleakness! Reports abound saying we’re not doing enough to interest the next generation of gardeners. The statistics aren’t painting a pretty picture. But take heart! There are at least a couple reasons why young ’uns will always have an interest in all things outdoors.

The nature factor. Name a kid who doesn’t love to chase after butterflies or spy on squirrels. (Or chipmunks or whatever quasi-cute rodents haunt your area.) Cultivating outdoor appreciation is the first step toward gardening. As a retailer, it might behoove you to carry stuff that plays off that natural inclination.

There are an abundance of wildlife kits on the market. Here’s a quick way to sort through all the options. Take a trip to your local natural history or science museum and peruse the gift shop. (Inform your cohorts that this is a legitimate work-related field trip. And, yes, a stop at the dinosaur display is totally necessary.) A little reconnaissance will help you pinpoint merchandise with real-life applications. And you’ll find stuff mass merchants aren’t likely to carry.

The ick factor. Kids, for the most part, like gross stuff. Bugs, worms, dirt — it’s all part of ankle-biter paradise. When you’re selecting garden or nature kits for kiddos, look for ones that play up the gross-out factor. Bug collecting kits with artificial creepy-crawlers could certainly be a hit. (And a source of in-office entertainment. I’m sure the bookkeeper would LOVE to find a couple of plastic beetles tucked among the payables.)

Russell's Garden Center in Wayland, Mass., does kid stuff in a big way (see pix below). The store offers an extensive selection of toys, games and craft kits. High-quality wooden toys are popular, and something customers won't find at big-box stores. Russell's gets extra points for displaying its wares on brightly painted shelves decked with multicolored lights.

Picture books are another staple of kid-dom, and a possibility for a garden center's merchandise mix. Last year, the American Horticultural Society and the Junior Master Gardener Program started offering up a list of top garden titles for youngsters — all possibilities for a store's children's area.

But remember, you don't have to limit yourself to gardening selections. A best seller at Almaden Valley Nursery in San Jose, Calif., was a riveting book called "Walter the Farting Dog." (Hmm. Wonder why that was a hit.) For proprieties' sake, I'll just keep any additional comments about this title to myself.