If you love gardening, you should try to share your passion with your kids. Gardening for kids comes with a lot of benefits and it will let them get out of the house and have a dose of sunlight and fresh air!
Often, parents keep their kids away from the garden because they fear they might get hurt. But little do they know that they will miss out on some learning and development opportunities by doing so.
Here is a list of the good that it will do when you teach your kids to garden at a young age.
Gardening for Kids: Benefits and Advantages
Encourages kids to eat healthier
If you are growing fruits and vegetables in your garden, take this as a chance to encourage kids to eat healthier. After all, the benefit of growing crops is getting to eat what you grow.
Seeing for themselves how these crops have grown from seedlings and knowing that they have participated in the growth of their food will give your kids a sense of pride. They will surely be more than willing to eat what you have grown together.
Give some scientific facts
Before you go out gardening, do some reading. What makes leaves green? Why do plants need sunlight? Learning these scientific facts will help them later on in school. It may even encourage them to be scientists!
Engage and explore with all five senses
As you work the garden with your kids ask them questions like how does the dirt feel, what color is that flower, how the herbs smell like, or how the leaves are rustling.
Let them learn about responsibility
Plants require attention. This is the chance to teach your kids the meaning of responsibility by assigning a certain plant to them to look after.
Develops motor skills
The tasks involved in gardening like scooping dirt, planting seeds, and using a hose with a stable retraction system will help and improve their fine motor skills. This will boost their learning capacities and their focus.
It has a positive impact on psychological well-being and mood
If your kids often have tantrums, gardening can help lessen these episodes. Think about it – adults love gardening because it is relaxing. It is one of the best ways to relieve stress and your kids can benefit from it.
Teach them about patience
Gardening for kids is the perfect way for them to learn about patience. It takes some time for a seedling to grow and form flowers or crops. The waiting time can be exciting for them. Just imagine their cries of glee when they notice a flower or a fruit forming!
Family bonding
Gardening takes a lot of hard work and doing together can turn it into a family bonding. It will be something that everyone can talk about over the dinner table and something to look forward to doing together.
Start growing together!
As you can see, gardening with your kids is one of the best ways to boost their development and help them establish healthy habits.
Kids these days do fewer outdoor activities given the gadget-obsessed reality we live in. If you include them in your gardening, they get the chance to enjoy the outdoors too!