Concerned about the environment? Why not start by educating your kiddos in the garden? Gardening for kids is so fun and full of great benefits for everyone.
If you don't have a garden yet, you can easily start one. You can easily grow herbs in your kitchen or you can start your own victory garden if you have space. Check out my gardening tips to get started. Homestead and Chill also has a ton of great beginner gardener resources you can check out.
It's good to see children's involvement with environmentally friendly activities and gardening is a great way to not only teach them about the environment but to also connect them with their food. Here are a few benefits of gardening for kids.
Science
In planting, children are indirectly taught the wonders of science like the plant's life cycle and how human intervention can break or make the environment. They can have the first-hand experience of the miracle of life through a seed. This would definitely be a new and enjoyable experience for the kids.
Life
Watching a seed grow into a tree is just as wondrous as the conception to birth and growth of a child. In time, kids will learn to love their plants and appreciate the life in them. Gardening could actually help simulate how life should be treated -- it should be with care. The necessities to live will be emphasized to kids with the help of gardening - water, sunlight, air, soil. Those necessities could easily have corresponded to human necessities, i.e., water, shelter, air, food. By simply weeding out, one could educate how bad influences should be avoided to be able to live life smoothly.
Relaxation
Studies show that gardening can reduce stress because of its calming effect. This is applicable to any age group. More so, it stimulates all the five senses. Believe it or not, gardening may be used as a therapy to children who have been abused or those who are members of broken homes. It helps build one's self-esteem.
Quality Time with the Family
You can forget about your stressful work life for a while be soothed by the lovely ambiance in the garden. You can play and spend quality time with your children. You can talk while watering the plants or you can work quietly beside each other. The bottom line is, always do what you have to do, together with your kids. You might discover a lot of new things about your child while mingling with them in your garden.
Let kids become aware of their environment's needs. And one way to jump-start that environmental education may be through gardening. It's hitting two birds with one stone -- teach them to respect life while you bond with them.
Champa says
So true. It is such a pleasure to eat what we grow and to make kids help you pick the veggies and water the plants is so nice.