Share The Joy Of Gardening With Your Child
I love gardening. I love the smell of the earth after you’ve turned it and prepped it for the upcoming season. I enjoying browsing the seed stands at the garden centres, carefully selecting seasonal favourites and deciding on this year’s new find. I love using my creativity to plan which flowers to use in my flower beds so that they blend and create a pop of colour in my yard. I love how gardening makes me feel physically and mentally stronger.
I have been gardening since I was a child. My grandparents always welcomed me to join them while they gardened. My parents utilized my cheap labour skills (the promise of a new comic book) to help dig, plant and harvest. When my children were small we created a space just for them to poke in the dirt, plant seeds and watch them grow. Gardening is great for the soul!
If you love gardening as much as I do, or it’s something you are interested in exploring for the first time, then let me share some wisdom when it comes to gardening with your child. The rewards are amazing!
If they grow it, they will eat it!
Take your child to the garden centre and allow them to pick out seeds or young plants for the vegetable garden. Peas, green beans, pumpkins, zucchini…all easy plants to grow. It’s a great way for children to experience new foods and they’ll be more willing to try it if they’ve had a hand in growing it.
Gardening makes children healthier!
The physical and mental benefits of gardening are endless. Gardening involves stretching, bending, digging, lifting, pulling and raking. Gross and fine motor skills are used, and even the youngest gardener with simple tasks gets physical activity. Planting and caring for a garden also gives children a sense of responsibility and purpose. Gardening is very therapeutic, and can help relieve stress too! “Heavy work” such as carrying a heavy watering can or digging in the dirt can help children stay calm and focused.
Gardening can help with problem solving!
Gardening presents opportunities for children to work on their problem solving skills. They will need to figure out where it’s best to plant seeds, how much water each plant needs to thrive and when it’s time to harvest the crop. These experiences encourage critical thinking skills and decision making skills, something they’ll need all their life.
Gardening can grow your child’s brain!
Watching the garden grow may generate lots of questions from your child such as: Why do plants need sun? How does the plant drink water? Why are bugs and worms good for the plants?
Literacy and math skills can be developed while gardening. Measure how much the plants grow each week. Count the flowers that come out on plants. Which cucumber is bigger or smaller? Draw pictures of the garden and how plants look at each stage of the development then turn those drawings into a book. Introduce new vocabulary while gardening, such as “seedling” or “harvest”. Visit the library to learn more about gardening and the plants you are growing. Once harvested, some plants actually help with brain growth! Plants such as spinach, garlic and beets are full of brain-building vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that help with cognitive function.
Connection to the natural world!
Gardening can foster such a connection to the natural world for children. As children become more knowledgeable about all the living things in the garden, they are less likely to be afraid of touching the plants, getting dirt on their hands or being near bugs. Gardening can help build an appreciation of the world they share with all living things.
No yard? No Problem!
If your outdoor space is minimal or non-existent, that doesn’t mean that you can’t garden! Try container gardening! Choose some eco-friendly containers with drainage holes in the bottom, fill them with a potting mix and then choose seeds or seedlings to plant. Your local gardening centre will be more than happy to explain container gardening and help you get set up. Containers work well for greens and herbs. Tomato plants do well in a sunny spot on your patio.
Make it fun!
Try out one of these “themed” gardens for a bit of fun this year.
Pizza garden: Grow green peppers, onions and herbs such as basil to use for pizza toppings. Use your tomatoes to make pizza sauce.
Sunflower house: Select a sunny spot with room to grow sunflowers. Plant the seeds in a circle or rectangle, leaving an opening. Plant seeds 6 inches apart and one inch deep. Once the plants reach 6 to 12 inches, plant scarlet runner beans next to the sunflowers to create a beautiful and edible wall covering. Cover the floor with clean straw or outdoor carpet and let the fun begin.
Fairy garden: Fairy gardens are magical! Check out the dollar store for some inexpensive items to use in your fairy garden, such as tiny pots, benches, gems, etc. Use low growing or smaller flowering plants to keep things cozy. Remember to pick a quiet spot in the garden so as not to disturb the fairies!
Keep in mind that not all children are avid gardeners at the beginning. Allow them time to explore and experience gardening at their own pace. Be patient, allow for mishaps (some weeds and plants look very similar), keep it fun and know when enough is enough. Mud happens!
So if you’re up for the challenge of gardening with your child, take a deep breath, their hand and allow nature to take its course!