Every parent can appreciate that finding activities for the whole family to enjoy can certainly be challenging. I’ve had my fair share of LEGO towers and racing car tracks to last a lifetime. Gardening is an activity your entire family can enjoy. Have you ever considered the benefits of creating a children’s garden, and what this provides the whole family? I can assure you, it’s more than an investment in soil and a garden bed.
Children’s garden
The key to enjoying valuable and rewarding family time in your garden is that you don’t necessarily have to be working on the same project. As long as you are all outside in the same area, you can still chat and spend time together. The benefits are as bountiful as the harvest.
1. Connecting with their senses
Using their senses in the garden can help them connect with Mother Nature. Out in the garden, they can feel the dirt in their hands, touch the plants, the petals, and hold seeds. To the eye, a garden is a seed that has come to life. We love watching birds and listening to their calls to each other. It’s amazing how many live in our garden, now that we listen to them.
2. The life cycles and garden science
The best way to visually show a child the life cycle of a seed is to have them grow a seed themselves. Talk to the kids about the process a seed travels through as it germinates into a plant, especially if it’s a food plant.
3. Encouraging healthy eating and wholefood habits
Growing food teaches kids about real food, food that doesn’t come from the pantry. It instills an understanding that whole food is essential for our existence and our health.
4. Exercise and fine motor skills
Gardening is one of the best workouts you can get doing an activity. Digging a hole, trying to steer a wheelbarrow full of soil or even raking a yard full of leaves, will all work up a sweat. This is a great way for the kids to get their bodies moving.
5. Discovery, education, and maths
Every plant in the garden has a different story, and kids love absorbing all of this new botanical knowledge. They quickly learn the basics of horticulture (seeds, plants, fruit, nuts, mushrooms, and non-food plants). They’ll love learning about ecosystems, the depth of soil, and counting seeds.
6. Autonomy and responsibility
They all want to do things themselves and make their own decisions, so this is a perfect situation to take responsibility and ownership. I highly recommend they have their own gloves, boots, tools, and a gardening hat, so it becomes a ritual for them to put these all on before heading out into their space.
7. Self-Sufficiency Skills
It’s a hard concept to get your head around sometimes, but just imagine for a second what life would be like if we taught our kids about supply and demand at a young age. If they learned that you plant what you can consume, and that going shopping for your salad meant grabbing a basket and heading out into your garden. It’s a nice thought, right?
8. Care of our environment and others
Instead of riding their bikes through the garden without understanding the impact it could have, you’ll find that kids may start to appreciate nature and respect it. This skill is often carried into their daily life, and in some kids, you can see a genuine transition or shift in their behaviour.
10. Patience
Children need to have patience in the garden because plants don’t grow overnight. Gardening is often a slow process. I love watching their faces when they see a seedling emerging through the soil or a flower bud just beginning to open up.
Next time you’re thinking about something you can do with the kids, why not consider adding a children’s garden? You’ll be amazed what a packet of seeds, some soil, garden tools and a place to belong will do for your whole family.
