In this modern era, it is more important than ever to teach our kids to respect the nature that surrounds us, to encourage them to engage in outdoor activities that are all about healthy living while being eco-conscious. And there is no better way to do so than to get them involved in gardening.
Besides gardening is good for the kids because they will spend time outdoors it is also a great physical activity that is good for them. Follow these tips to inspire your children and make them adore gardening year after year.
Start Teaching kids at a Young age
Gardening has many perks and as soon as your offspring discover some of them, they will be thrilled to help. It is crucial that you teach your kids from a very young age how important it is to take care of the garden and the plants. It is well worth the time since later on, they will voluntarily help you while getting your garden ready for the season.
Give them their Own Garden Plots
Create a space for your kids in the garden – give them their own garden plots. Nothing will keep them interested as much as having a personal space where they are in charge and can follow the magical changes of nature. Put a border around it to separate it and make it official. Help them prepare the soil and let them get dirty; they are going to love that!
Kids Gardening Equipment
Give your kids their very own supplies and gardening tools. They will love having their own equipment and you will see the excitement on their faces. Include small hand rake, s shovel, a hoe, a pair of small gloves, etc. and make it fun by choosing different colors of the kid-friendly gardening tools. Let them do the work all by themselves (with your instructions, of course) so that they can do it at their own pace.
Make Garden Maintenance a Fun Activity
Show your children the process of growing plants and don’t let them be bored with the work on maintaining the garden space. Instead, make garden maintenance a social activity, invite other kids to join in and organize an all-about-nature day for the little ones.
Try not to present garden maintenance as a chore because they will be appalled by the idea of working in the sun the whole day. Make it fun, sing, talk or play together while taking care of the plants. Make sure to invest in quality gardening equipment and tools, easy to use retractable hose reels and high-quality, eco-friendly fertilizers to make gardening a piece of cake.
As a cherry on top, after a day of hard work prepare a special treat such as favorite ice cream to cool down or a pizza for dinner with fresh cherry tomatoes. That way your kids will associate gardening with positive memories that made them happy, and will love to help with the garden anytime.
Inspire them to Research
Help your kids research what they want to know about veggies that you are growing in your garden, let them read more about plants and maintenance to get them involved and to teach them what to expect and how to properly take care of different plants.
Let them Help You Choose Veggies
Let your kids choose what veggies they want to grow, offer them several choices and explain which ones are quicker harvest and which ones are easy to grow. For example, cherry tomatoes are very easy to grow and pretty quickly they will have the chance to harvest the sweet yield.
Fresh out of the Garden Meals
When the harvest time comes, let them enjoy the fruit of their labor right from the garden. Encourage your kids to make their own meals with the fresh out of the garden ingredients. It can help with the stubborn ones reluctant to eat certain veggies because this way they will be excited to try something they help grew.
Follow these simple tips to make your kids excited about getting involved with gardening and teach them how to properly take care of plants, both outdoors and indoors.
You will teach your offspring about the process and nature and you will learn more along the way, so don’t stress too much about not knowing all the little details. Not everything can be found in the books, you have to do some practical work in order to master a technique.