It’s not uncommon to see people doing various therapeutic activities such as dancing, painting, listening to relaxing music, soaking in a warm bath, and even cooking to de-stress themselves after a hectic day. For some people, their therapy is gardening. Many folks admit that they find planting flowers very therapeutic, but has it ever crossed your mind that gardening can also have amazing developmental benefits for your kids?
In this article, we will explain how gardening can be beneficial for children of all ages, even if they have just started the whole gardening process.
7 Special Joys of Gardening with Kids
1. Gardening Engages the Senses
Gardening with your children will help them engage their senses. While gardening with kids, they get the chance to get their hands dirty. They can touch and feel the soil, seeds, and smell the amazing scent of flowers and plants. When their senses are activated, they’ll grasp the concept of gardening and the fun it gives them. This is something parents really enjoy because they find that their kids can have fun outdoors. Children don’t always have to be playing video games or watching television.
2. It Encourages Healthy Eating
We all want our kids to be healthy and eat healthily. Eating healthy foods is imperative for optimal brain and body development. But let’s be honest—kids don’t like to eat those fruits and veggies. However, you can change that by encouraging them to grow and eat their own fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, blueberries, carrots, and lettuce. Doing this will instill a sense of pride in them as they eat what they’ve “created” or “grown.” Gardening can help encourage kids to eat healthily, which will, in turn, lead to a healthy lifestyle.
3. Gardening Enhances Physical Development in Kids
Gardening is an outdoor physical activity. Activities such as working under the sun, moving the soil, digging with the trowel, watering the flowers and plants, and pushing a wheelbarrow will help your kids improve their motor skills, as well as enhance overall strength. This hard work will also keep them focused and calm. Furthermore, their improved motor skills and focus will be helpful in enhancing their academic skills such as writing and typing.
4. It Fosters Family Bonding
Want to bond with your kids more? Gardening with your children will help you to bond with your children better than family vacations or camping. When it comes time to select flowers and vegetables to plant, you can ask your kids to chime in their opinion. Plus, families can work together in the garden and kitchen to cook the vegetables they have grown.
5. Gardening Teaches Responsibility and Patience
If you want to have a nice garden, you need to maintain it regularly. Gardening will teach kids about responsibility. Growing and maintaining plants and flowers is a slow process that requires patience. Gardening with your kids will teach them how important patience is in life. It is imperative that your children grasp the virtues of having patience, as they are habituated to instant gratification. They need to learn that patience is imperative in achieving success, which is something they that happens as they wait for their vegetables and flowers to grow and blossom.
6. Gardening Helps Your Kids to Learn About Scientific Concepts
There are a lot of educational elements when it comes to gardening that can make learning various scientific concepts enjoyable for kids. Gardening will introduce your kids into world biology, botany, and chemistry. They can learn how seeds develop in plants after they sow them. They will realize that adequate sunlight and water are vital for plant growth. Gardening will also teach your kids the importance of keeping the environment clean to grow healthy plants, and concepts like pesticides, pollution, and recycling.
Additionally, gardening will help kids improve their math skills. For instance, they can measure the soil depth, count the seeds, and keep track of the growth of the plant. They can also measure and compare flower and vegetables, identify shapes of vegetables and fruits, and so on.
7. Gardening Will Make Your Kids better Planners and Organizers
Those who have been gardening for a while know very well how time-consuming it is to plan and organize a garden. You need to know what kind of flowers bloom during a particular season, what the ideal time to plant your seeds is, and how long it takes for a vegetable plant to produce. By involving your kids in the work of your garden, it will enhance their planning and organizations skills, which will help in all facets of their lives.
Author Bio:
David A. Buhr has over fifteen years of experience in the field of kids’ psychology. He specializes in setting up Educational State. He is an expert in the area of developing strategies for kids Education. He is presently working at https://smiletutor.sg.
