Gardening is a terrific way to get children involved with nature. It has the power to teach kids about the beauty of flowers and vegetables, whilst also teaching them valuable life lessons like patience and self-confidence. It equips them with critical skills that can help them in other areas of their lives.
Below are some of the main benefits children can experience by helping in the garden.
Engage all the senses
With gardening, kids can touch and feel the dirt, seeds, flowers and leaves, see the vibrant colours and varied sizes of the plants, hear the sound of the vegetable when it’s taken from the plant, and smell the amazing scents of the flowers. Allowing all the senses to be involved helps kids understand and grasp the concept of gardening and, in turn, teaches them to appreciate nature.
Encourage healthy eating
Getting children to eat their fruits and vegetables can sometimes be a challenge. When they are involved in every step of the process, however, they gain an interest in eating them too. Even the pickiest eaters won’t be able to resist trying veggies they’ve grown themselves!
Enhances fine motor development
Gardening and fine motor skills go hand-in-hand. In the garden, children must move around a lot to tackle tasks like watering, fertilising, pruning, digging, weeding and bending. As kids do these tasks, they develop important motor skills that will help them improve their academic skills such as writing, cutting and typing.
Develop social skills
Gardening can be a very sociable activity, especially in schools. Children can learn to work together and will enjoy discussing different types of flowers and plants, and the process they have carried out to plant their seeds. Gardening presents wonderful opportunities for children to bond and help each other look after and nurture their plants.
Teach responsibility and patience
Kids learn that they must take care of their seeds each day for them to grow into healthy plants. They will quickly learn they get out what they put in; if the plants aren’t regularly watered and taken care of, they won’t flourish.
Gardening is a great way to teach responsibility, but it is no overnight process. Kids are used to immediate gratification; however, gardening is often a slow process. They must learn to be patient when waiting for their flowers and vegetables to grow.
Enhance the ability to plan and organise
For those that garden regularly, you understand that planning and organising a garden can be time consuming and somewhat of an art form. You must know which flowers bloom during whoch time of year, how long it takes a seed to turn into a vegetable and when is the best time to plant your seeds.
Involving kids in this process helps increase their planning and problem-solving skills. It also enhances their organisational strategies, which can be carried over to every facet of life!
Highlight the importance of taking care of the environment
When children garden, they realise how important it is to take care of the Earth if they want their garden to grow and produce healthy plants. It creates the perfect opportunity for parents to talk to their kids about concepts such as pollution, pesticides and recycling.
There are so many activities you could try with your kids, to get them back into nature. Plantland has a cool Little Seedling club that you can sign up to, which sends you a box filled with gardening goodies each month, for you as a family to enjoy!
It is important to get our kids back into nature for a healthier and happier home.
Visit Thanks Plants for more.
