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What do you think of when you hear the word “gardening”?
Most people imagine fresh air, greenery, and an elderly person bending down to clip a rose bush. But gardening is for kids, too!
In this article, we cover how spending time in the garden can impact the skills and character of a child from as early as ages 2 to 7.
Gardening Has A Positive Impact On All 5 Senses
Gardening helps a child's development by stimulating every sense.
Children:
See (and start to understand) the different stages of plant life;
Touch and pick the plants grown by them;
Smell and identify different natural aromas and breathe in fresh air;
Taste a variety of herbs and spices thus adapting to a more nutritious diet;
Hear birds, bees, and the rustling of ornamental grasses and leaves.
Parents should present the garden as a colorful playground where young kids can explore and grow affection for the flora. According to research, gardening with children can have a massive positive influence in the long term.
The benefits of gardening from a young age include:
Responsibility - regularly watering and taking care of living things;
Curiosity - learning about different plants, how to grow them, and insects found in the garden;
Confidence - their efforts are rewarded by seeing how plants grow;
Creativity - being aware of the basic concepts of landscape design;
Physical development - constant movement related to a variety of gardening tasks;
Brain challenge - calculating nutrition, exposure to light, and watering days;
Collaboration - sharing responsibility and ideas with siblings, parents or other family members;
Love of nature - growing flowers, fruits, vegetables, herbs with love.
Take 5 simple steps to start container gardening or our dive in our full library of gardening tips.
If you plan to introduce gardening as a fun activity for your children, we recommend growing suitable plants that develop all five senses:
Sight: sunflowers, peonies, poppies, spider flowers;
Smell: lemongrass, lavender, rosemary;
Sound: bamboo and sweet corn;
Taste: raspberries, tomatoes, basil, carrots;
Touch: snapdragons, sage, houseleek;
Gardening Stimulates Kids To Choose Healthy Food
Children will be enthusiastic to eat vegetables and fruits that they have grown. And if you are indeed the ambitious type, homegrown fruits of labor will be sweeter than store-bought.
THE 5 BEST PLANTERS FOR VEGETABLES AND FRUITS
When kids take an active part in the entire process of growing food - from planting, through intensive care and finally picking the produce - they learn to appreciate work and effort.
If you successfully get your kids gardening, you will no longer struggle to sneak beans or spinach onto plates at dinner. Toddlers and preschoolers will be eager to eat veggies and thus embrace a healthier diet starting from an early age.
CONTAINER GARDENING FOR KIDS: PINT-SIZE GARDENS FOR PINT-SIZE GARDENERS
Gardening Can Help Overcome Allergies
If you have allergies, it’s likely your children will, too, but plant life might change that. Grow herbs at home or let the young one spend more time in nature. In the case of dust-mite allergies, air purifiers with no filter replacement can help, too. They can help your child to overcome intolerance to many allergens, be it plant life, pets, inset, or mold.
CONTAINER GARDENING BENEFITS AND WHY YOU SHOULD START
Gardening Improves Fine Motor Skills
One of the best benefits of gardening for children is the practice of fine motor skills. Taking care of plants involves systematic and repetitive chores such as digging, seeding, watering, fertilizing, cutting, pruning, and more.
The same way handwriting builds crucial finger motor skills, day-to-day responsibilities build up a child’s work ethic. If youngsters maintain a simple indoor garden, they will become energetic, proactive, and healthier.
Gardening and Knowledge Go Hand in Hand
At Oak Hill Gardens we believe gardening is a mix of science and art. There’s a lot of science involved in growing a plant, but you’ll absorb this information over years of trial and error. And the info sticks, because it will explain why one plant died and another thrived.
Your young gardeners will learn things like:
Botany: learning about herbs, veggies, and fruits;
Chemistry: e.g. when they see how composting works;
Entomology: observing insects and their effects on the garden;
Math: calculating the distance between plants when seeding or mixing a fertilizer solution;
Meteorology: checking the weather forecast and how it affects the plants.
Gardening Decreases Stress at an Early Age
Photo Credit: Times-Up
Gardening for half an hour on a daily basis decreases the amount of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is the hormone responsible for stress.
According to Gentleman Zone Blog, if you want to teach your children modesty, respect and how to manage their emotions up to etiquette, then introduce them to gardening. Nature has the power to reduce stress levels in people of all ages.
This makes gardening the ideal hobby for toddlers and preschoolers so they grow calm, energetic, and happy.
Gardening Has a Positive Impact on Memory, Attention, and Patience
Due to the technological era we live in where everything is digitized, young children have trouble focusing on one thing. You can avoid that by teaching your kids how to take care of plants. Gardening will have an immediate effect on the attention span and patience of children.
Pro Tip: Start by planting flowers or herbs which grow fairly quickly so the children can sooner see how their efforts are being rewarded. This way their interest will remain high. Cress is a great starting point!
When you regularly include toddlers in the plant growing process, you will help with the stimulation of memory and vigilance.
Gardening Teaches Kids to Respect and Protect Nature
When children sow seeds and take care of growing plants, something else grows inside them - responsibility. To nurture and help your young ones grow, create a schedule for daily, weekly, or monthly chores. Make sure your kids follow this checklist but leave them as much independence as possible.
With time they will learn that gardening takes a lot of effort but it’s worth it.
Kids will also adopt a green way of thinking and become more eco-friendly. The young mind will grow to love clean soil, water, fresh air, and healthy plant life. With love for nature they’ll create less trash and keep their environment clean.
Gardening Improves Self-confidence
Being confident is crucial for toddlers and preschoolers. Kids will grow optimistic as they see seeds turn to plants, and they’ll feel like they’ve developed a skill.
Gardening Nourishes the Relationship Between Kids and Parents
Gardening can also be a great family activity in which members of all ages come together. Kids don’t need a big back yard to start growing. Try a few pots on your balcony and sow native herbs.