The Benefits of Gardening With Kids
Gardening is a broad term that covers something as large as acres of land to growing a few things in a pot on your patio. No matter what gardening looks like for your family, your kids can learn some very important life lessons!
Lesson 1: The seasons in weather and how there is a season for everything in life.
Depending on the age of your child, this can be something as simple as learning Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter and what the weather is like in those seasons. If your child is a bit older, you can teach them about the deeper association of how there is a season for everything in life. For summer flowers, spring is meant for growing, summer for thriving, fall for winding down, and winter for resting. In life we go through these same types of seasons.
Lesson 2: How to care for something else.
Your child learns how to put the needs of something else above the needs of themselves. They get to reap the benefits of that care by enjoying the blooms of their flowers, or the delicious produce that comes from their plants.
Lesson 3: A plant’s basic needs are much like our own- water, sun, nutrition.
They can learn a bit about themselves as they care for the needs of their garden. Adequate water, adequate sunlight/time outdoors, and adequate nutrition are all essentials for not only surviving, but thriving! Kids can’t grow without proper nutrition and they can’t run and play without fueling their body.
Lesson 4: How to work hard.
If you’ve ever grown something you know it's not always easy! If you have a lot of space, there’s the physical labor of hauling dirt in wheelbarrows to your flower beds, digging holes, and pulling weeds. Even if you have a patio garden, there’s still plenty of work in hauling bags of soil, pulling weeds, moving around pots, etc. Nothing in life comes without a little hard work. And that’s the best part of it all, right? The reward is so much sweeter after a bit of hard work!
Lesson 5: Pollinators and Pests.
When tending to a garden, you’ll see both pollinators and pests. They are both an important part of our ecosystem. As long as the ecosystem is in balance, there is harmony in the garden.
You can teach your child about what the pollinators do for plants and why we need to invite them. You can look for ways to create a habitat for them to thrive. They will also learn about pests, what they look like, and the relationship they have with our garden. You can teach them about predatory insects and how they protect our plants from having too many pests in the garden. For example, ladybugs help keep our ecosystem balanced by eating aphids.
There are many more lessons kids learn when gardening, but these key points are so helpful in your child’s overall development and understanding of the world around them. I’d encourage you to start a garden- no matter how small!
I also have a Kid’s Cut Flower Garden Class coming up if you want something fun to do with the family in May! You can find details on my website under ‘Workshops.’
I’d love to help your family get started in your gardening journey!
Shelby
Finn harvesting a bouquet for himself
Joey with a flower bigger than his head
