Are you looking for a fun and educational extracurricular activity for your kids? If so, you should start gardening with children.
Gardening is not only a hobby. It is a life lesson that shows your kids how nature works and why a sustainable lifestyle is essential. In addition, you can teach different botanical lessons to your children while improving their immune systems.
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This guide will teach you everything you should know before gardening with your little ones. So, let’s pick your shovel and read carefully.
5 Benefits of Gardening with Children
1. Being Responsible
Gardening helps you develop a responsible nature among your kids. Nurturing a plant requires regular watering, weeding, and feeding. This will teach your kid to be responsible and cater to their plant’s needs on time for better growth.
2. Value Food
When your kids see how much effort and resources are used to grow a veggie or fruit, they will learn to value their food. They will not waste food anymore. It will also help to develop their taste in different types of vegetables and fruits.
3. Botany Education
Gardening is the best way to stimulate curiosity among your kids. You need to take your little one to the garden, and they will automatically start questioning you about different things and plants. You can educate them about different plant species, insects, and other botanical stuff.
4. Sustainable Lifestyle
Do you want to teach your kid how sustainable lifestyles work? Then, gardening with your kids can help you teach them different aspects of a sustainable lifestyle, such as rainwater harvesting, earthworm fertilizers, preserving the soil quality, etc. You can turn your little person into a nature protector with the early introduction of gardening in their lives.
5. Teach Patience
Growing a plant requires lots of caring and patience. Your kids will learn to practice patience in their lives when they see how their patience can be rewarded with bright and beautiful flowers or tasty fruits.
Seeds to Plant with Your Kids
Depending upon your garden’s size, you can plant different seeds with your kids. However, you should try to plant multiple seeds in your garden so kids can learn the growing process and requirements of various plants. Some of the best plants to grow in your garden are:
- Sunflowers are a must-have plant in a kid’s garden as they bloom within 6 to 8 weeks, and their vibrancy can make your kid smile.
- Lettuce/mescluns are quick-to-grow crops that can spike your child’s interest in healthy salads.
- Snow peas are fun to grow as your kids can eat pods, and they are dwarf plants, so your kids can easily manage them.
- It would help if you also grew carrots, potatoes, beetroot, and other underground crops to teach your child how some veggies grow beneath the soil.
- If you have a huge backyard garden, you can also grow fruit trees like mango, banana, peach, etc.
5 Tips to Do Gardening with Children
1. Start Small
Depending on your kid’s age, you should start with a small gardening project. Your kids might still have a low attention span and lack interest in gardening. Therefore, you should first give them a small project, like a plant to grow. If your child shows interest in gardening, you can gradually assign them big projects like a plot to grow different seeds or a couple of pots to water.
2. Trip to Nursery
You should let your kids decide what they want to plant in the garden. For this, you can take your kids to a local nursery and let them explore different types of plants and crops there. You should leave your kids to ask different questions from the nursery attendant to make a wise decision. Do not judge or encounter their choice; it will make your kids responsible and accountable.
3. Buy Your Kids Tools
You should also buy mini gardening tools for your kids to work in the garden properly, like gloves, spades, shovels, etc. However, don’t buy those plastic gardening tools.
4. Foster Independent
Gardening is the best way to develop thinking and problem-solving skills among kids. You should let your kids decide about watering, feeding, and harvesting their plants. Do not tell them what to do unless they ask for your opinion. This will make them accountable for their actions.
5. Create a Safe Surrounding
Before leaving your kids alone in the garden, you should ensure all the fertilizers and chemicals are away from their reach. Also, ensure that your kids are properly protected with a hat, sunscreen, and footwear while working in the garden. Put a shed in your garden during summertime so your little one’s sensitive skin won’t burn.
Parting Remarks
Gardening helps improve your child’s immunity, understanding, and intellectual intelligence. It also helps connect your children with nature and make them value a sustainable lifestyle. Gardening is not just a hobby. It is a way to lead a life today.
Therefore, no matter how young or old your kid is, you should make efforts to encourage them to do gardening with you. This guide will help you start gardening with your kids, so let’s not wait; gear up with your gardening tools today.
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Quick FAQs
What is the right age to start gardening with your kids?
You can start taking your kids to the garden when they crawl or sit properly. However, if you want them to participate in the gardening activities with you, you should wait until they understand things around your garden. So, the right age to start gardening with your kids can be 3 years and above.
Why is gardening a good hobby for kids?
Gardening allows your kids to experiment, share their knowledge and learn new things about nature every day. This will also help to teach nurturing, patience, and a sense of pride and introduce healthy eating habits to your kids.
