Gardening can be a great way to bond as a family without the need for smart devices or tv programmes. Also, children as young as toddlers can learn so much from taking part besides their parents or grandparents.
With summer in full swing, this article will run through a few ways of getting your kids involved with gardening, from turning tasks into games to creating a personalised toddler gardening toolkit. So let’s prepare to go green and reap the rewards of this beneficial outdoor hobby.
Why Should You Encourage Your Little Ones to Garden?
Gardening is all about connecting with nature and passing on key life skills that’ll help your child thrive throughout their life. By spending quality time together, your young ones will observe, copy and learn by watching what you do.
This fun activity brings the benefit of encouraging fine motor skills as they handle seeds, weed the soil and learn how to use their mini-sized tools. Indeed, this rewarding pastime will stay with them long into adulthood.
Other worthwhile benefits of gardening with kids include training their immune systems and teaching them where their favourite food comes from. Also, it will strengthen the core skills of patience, dedication and planning whilst having fun.
To put it simply, the garden becomes an exciting outdoor classroom for kids of all ages.
How to Get Your Kids into Gardening
Gardening is all about working as a team. Yet, engaging the entire family in this outdoor activity can seem like a challenge. Thankfully, there are many ways to include them in gardening from a young age, as we’ll explore in the following top tips.
Read a Children’s Gardening Book Together
Designed with youngsters in mind, a number of authors have written gardening books specifically for children. Helping to inspire their love of nature and develop their reading skills, these publications will help them learn more about their outside space.
Be sure to include a few reading sessions before going to the garden centre and picking up supplies, to show them what’s possible.
Create a Plant Journal
Combining art and writing with gardening, plant journals are a great way to record the results of their hard work. It makes gardening for 5 year olds and above an adventure and strengthens their writing skills for school. Inquisitive minds can track their plants’ progress and even draw what they have helped to grow.
What could be better?
Have a Gardening Party
Your little ones will think gardening is so much cooler when their friends team up to help them. Invite them round and provide a personalised gardening kit or child-friendly tools for the day.
Finish the day by inviting everyone to enjoy party food gathered around one of our Corner Garden Furniture sets. With plenty of fresh air and exercise included, their parents will thank you after a day spent in the garden.
Designate Their Own Area
Kids of all ages will feel excited about tending their very own part of the garden. Buy a selection of easy-to-grow seeds before asking them to choose what they’d like to grow. Fast-growing salad greens or giant sunflowers are likely to wow young gardeners.
It’s all about turning gardening tasks into fun games. For example, why not reward them with gold stars every day that they water the soil or remove weeds from this area? This is fun gardening for 4 years olds and above who can teach their younger siblings after learning the ropes from you.
Use Their Fruit and Vegetables in Recipes
Rewarding children for their hard work can also be as simple as cooking with the produce they’ve grown. Get them involved in making a salad or cooking a meal that includes what they’ve grown. Berries can become the main ingredients for delicious crumbles and pies. You can achieve al fresco cooking by using the Neo Outdoor Kitchen.
Imagine how proud they’ll be knowing that they grew the ingredients for a yummy meal or dessert.
Getting Creative
Getting creative and personalising standard plant pots is all part of the fun. Decorating them with your child’s favourite paint colours and patterns encourages creativity and their finished creations make great gardening gifts for children.
Help them remember which seeds they’re growing by decorating plant markers. Including bright trellis for peas and other climbers look equally fabulous and has the practical benefit of supporting young plants. Similarly, adding garden accessories such as fairy doors and ornaments will encourage your kids to spend time outside.
Remember to Take Photos
Record their gardening efforts for prosperity by encouraging mini gardeners to create a project at the end of the growing season. Before and after pictures can create a sense of pride among budding gardeners that’ll mean they’re eager to grow more things during the next growing season.
Also, remember to take photos of their gardening party and craft sessions. This project can be shared with their grandparents or used in a ‘what I did this weekend’ show and tell with their classmates.
Make Gardening a Happy Time
You can create fond memories whilst passing on valuable life skills to your kids, who’ll view gardening and nature with newfound joy. Offering health benefits and sensory development, they may decide to pass on their love of gardening to future generations.
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