Toddler Gardening Gloves

The soil is too cold for little fingers so there is not much gardening happening at our house at the moment. Within moments of our Little Garden Helpers starting to dig, fingers begin to turn blue. Garden Boy has more stamina for the cold than Garden Girl who gives up quickly saying her fingers are too cold and she wants to go back inside. They do wear gloves and mittens, woollen ones, because these are the only ones available in their size. They are brilliant for days out in winter but not so good for hard work in the garden. As soon as they get wet they let the cold through. There are an array of children's gardening gloves available in the shops but none of them small enough for young toddler hands. Even Garden Girl at age three does not fit the smallest ones we have found.

With the possibility of snow being suggested in the news, I have been thinking back to earlier in the year when we went outside to build a snowman and just how quickly Garden Girl gave up because her fingers had turned numb. She watched from the window while I finished off, then came back outside to add the eyes, nose, smile, scarf and hat. I know that if her hands were warm enough she would have stayed to help and would be eager now to be digging in the garden. Why does no-one make tough gardening mittens that keep out the wet and cold, for very small hands? If anyone has discovered very small gardening gloves or mittens please let me know. In the meantime we are having to find other ways to get mucky, so there has been lots of painting and baking indoors. Great fun, but not quite like soil on our heads!