Many children enjoy helping with a family allotment garden or cultivating a small patch of their own. Most young children love getting muddy. Whatever your age, gardening teaches you a lot about the world around you and may encourage children to take a new interest in eating fruit and vegetables.

Allotments can be fascinating places for children to explore but there are many potential hazards. To keep children safe, please remember to:

• keep your children supervised at all times
• keep tools and garden chemicals in a safe place - don't leave them lying around the plot
• remind children to wash their hands after gardening
• don't let children go onto other allotment gardens: there may be hazards that you don't know about

There is a special children's plot at Low Moor Allotments. The Community Kid's Allotment is looked after by a children's gardening club and hosts visits from local schools. For more information contact Angela Johnson on (01904) 654357.