Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

This sounds like an incredible project, and we are going to find trees native to those areas, and suggest the ones we feel would lend themselves to being planted by children. To begin, we Googled on "tree planting for children" and got several resources on that subject. We selected one that gives some general information on the subject: kidsface.org How to Plant a Tree, and suggest you use the same process to find more specialized information that you might need. That leaves us with our job of selecting three trees to recommend to you. We can't testify as to whether they are the "top three," they will just all be easily planted trees native to your planned area. You can search on your own by going to our Recommended Species section, and first clicking on North Texas on the map and then "tree" in the General Appearance drop-down menu. Repeat the search for Oklahoma. For our purposes, we are going to choose trees that don't get terribly big so that there won't be as much concern about them being planted too close to foundations or power wires. They all have attractive blooms, and we have included the Propagation Instructions with each:

Trees for Children to Plant in Oklahoma and North Texas:

Chilopsis linearis (desert willow) - Propagate by fresh seed, dormant cuttings, or semi-hardwood cuttings in late summer.

Cercis canadensis var. texensis (Texas redbud) - member of Fabaceae (pea) family and has large legume-like pods producing seeds which sprout easily

Cotinus obovatus (American smoketree) - Propagation Material: Seeds
Description: Few seeds are formed. Those sown immediately after collection may take two springs to germinate. Scarification and stratification hasten germination. Smoke-trees are also propagated from root or stem cuttings or layering. Semi-hardwood or softwood cut

From our Image Gallery:

Cercis canadensis var. texensis

Chilopsis linearis

Cotinus obovatus