Remember when a backyard became a ranch with horses and outlaws? Or an old tree became the tallest mountain in the world? The outdoors was a place of fun, wonder, even excitement. You grew to know plants and animals and noted the passing of seasons. Rekindle those moments this spring by planting a garden with your child.

Environmental attitudes are formed in preschool years. Kids need to understand how important plants and the environment are to themselves and everyone else. They will carry these attitudes and this knowledge into their adult lives. What better way for children to learn about their environment than through what they eat? Through gardening, learning about the environment can be lots of fun.

Plan a child's garden for imagination. Adults have a vegetable or herb garden, but a child might think of it as Alice in Wonderland's or Mr. McGregor's garden, where Peter Rabbit got into trouble.

Think about the stories your child has heard or read to get ideas for their garden. A bean-pole teepee could become a "Jack-and-the-Beanstalk Garden." Or "Cinderella's Garden" could have pumpkins and lady's slippers. An A-B-C garden might be fun. If the plot is large enough, everything from asters to zinnias could be planted.

As an adult, you may want everything in neat rows, but kids don't care. It's important that the garden belongs to the child, and the child should be involved in planning it. Children should be encouraged to go into their garden and to visit it often. There should be no "no's" or determined perfectionism. Just like an adult, a child should learn from experience.

A child's garden should not be a place they enter only when there's work to be done. Let the kids caress a smooth, purple eggplant, peek under the lettuce leaves, smell the first sweet pea, and pop ripe cherry tomatoes into their mouths. What do kids want in a garden? Ask them! What vegetables do they like to eat? That's what you plant. Well, you can't plant pizza. But you can plant oregano to sprinkle on top.

Some crops, such as radishes, are often recommended for children's gardens because they grow fast and are a beautiful red. But since most children don't eat them, what's the point? Herb plants may offer some quick returns, the mints in particular. But in this age of instant gratification, maybe working toward a longer-range goal is appropriate. Crops such as carrots, pumpkins, tomatoes, and sweet corn take a long time to harvest, but they're worth the wait.

Consider, too, that a child's garden could be a flower garden. Make a rainbow garden with broad stripes of different colors that end in a pot of golden marigolds. How about growing an all-green garden and calling it a "Kermit the Frog Garden" for one of my favorite Sesame Street characters. Your child can grow lettuce, spinach and chard, collards, mustard, and turnips.

However it's designed or not designed, planting a garden with a child might also help us to think like a child again.

Wayne McLaurin is an Extension Service horticulturist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.