Teaching your kids about gardening will enrich them in many ways. They will learn about responsibility, nutrition, and science while they gain a sense of satisfaction by watching their plants grow. Here are some tips that will help you and your child when planting a kid-friendly garden.
- Get your kids involved with the garden at the planning stage. Involve them with where their garden will be planted, what types of plants they will grow, etc. This will get them excited about their project.
- Buy them their own gardening tools. They will need some real tools if they are really going to help with the planting and maintenance of the garden; not toy garden tools.
- Get them involved with the science of the garden. It is a great teaching opportunity to talk about analyzing the soil quality, soil drainage, garden insects (welcome and unwelcome varieties), etc.
- When selecting plants, especially for vegetable gardens, try to choose plants that are fairly easy to grow. In general, tomatoes, okra, beans, and lettuce are easy to grow and have a shorter growing season.
- Encourage your children to start a gardening journal. This is another great teaching tool, as they use their writing skills to describe their experiences. They could also take their own photographs of their garden as it grows to add it to their journal.
- Spend some time researching recipes that can be made using their harvest. Spending time with kids in the kitchen preparing their bounty may just encourage a picky eater to try a new vegetable, especially if they grew it themselves.
Planting a garden with your kids can lend itself to quality time spent together while learning and playing in the dirt. The main thing to remember is to have fun and to be patient with your little gardener.
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