This narrative review is the first to focus on how young people themselves express their experiences of participation in ecological restoration projects, as a guide to creating projects that engage them effectively. It gathers 10 qualitative and mixed-method studies that document young people's experiences through observations, interviews, focus groups, drawings, narratives and other methods, in order to investigate two questions: (1) How do young people experience engagement with the land and changes in the land during restoration activities? (2) How do they experience the social dimension of interacting with other people during restoration work? Two types of restoration work emerged, and their results are compared: the creation of biodiverse habitats on school grounds, and enhancements to community lands beyond school. Themes that recurred at different sites are summarized, and implications are suggested for teachers and community partners, as well as researchers who want to explore this topic further.