How Grandma Carole Middleton Is Encouraging George, Charlotte and Louis to 'Get a Bit Muddy'

Carole Middleton is passing on her love of gardening to her grandchildren.

Kate Middleton's mom is now a grandmother of five after the recent birth of Pippa Middleton's daughter, Grace (she joins 2-year-old brother Arthur), and she is already getting her young grandkids — including Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 3 — interested in growing plants.

"If I'm doing planting with my grandchildren, I like to have it all laid out at 'activity stations' with their own little trowel and pot so they can get started immediately," she told the U.K.'s Saga magazine for their May issue. "It's no good calling children over to an activity, only for you then to have to fuss about looking for the right equipment and clearing a space. They'll soon lose interest and slope off."

Carole, 66, added, "It's important for children to grow up appreciating nature and part of that is allowing them to get a bit muddy."

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Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Carole Middleton

Samir Hussein/WireImage Carole Middleton, Princess Charlotte and Kate Middleton

Karwai Tang/WireImage Michael Middleton, Prince George and Carole Middleton

Carole, who founded the business Party Pieces, also shared that she's been growing her own vegetables as a way to stay busy during lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"Growing potatoes is a simple one to start with, and digging for spuds is fun at any age," she said. "We also grow carrots, beetroot and onions, and there's no better way to encourage healthy eating than to allow your grandchildren to see how food is grown and let them pick their own."

Kate, 39, also values spending time outdoors with her children. During a 2020 appearance on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, the royal mom was asked to complete the sentence "I'm happy when…"

Kate replied, "I'm with my family outside in the countryside and we're all filthy dirty."

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"I remember that from my childhood – doing the simple things, going for a walk together, and that's really what I try and do with my children as well because it totally strips away all the complications, all the pressures… as a parent and I think these experiences as well mean so much to children and the world that they're in which is a real adventure for them at that age," she added.