The Benefits of Gardening with Kids

Do you think your kids spend too much of their time indoors? Gardening can be a fantastic way to encourage them to get some fresh air and get a little more active. Studies have even shown that young students participating in school garden lessons showed more socially competent behaviour than in classroom lessons. This means that your home garden can also be a favourable environment for lots of learning and family bonding. In this article, we’re listing down the top benefits of introducing gardening to your kids.

Teaches them responsibility and patience

Growing any kind of plant will need daily attention and care. Children are able to quickly learn that if plants aren’t regularly tended to, they won’t flourish. Over time, they’ll learn that remembering to care for their plants and waiting for them to bloom will require responsibility and patience. Moreover, they’ll learn to have a broader perspective, as many plants require different levels and kinds of care, much like the different people they will meet in day-to-day life.

Helps with educational topics

Many parents start their kids on gardening as a way to supplement their school learning. There’s a lot of learning required to understand how plants grow, including understanding types of soil, pH levels, fertilisation, and weather, among other things. You may think that only children interested in science will benefit from this, but even children who are maths, literature, sports, or art lovers are fantastic prospects. Through appreciating the beauty of nature, reading about different flora and fauna, or using it as a way to get active, kids are bound to find something about gardening to enjoy.

Improves their fine motor skills

Besides helping them cognitively, gardening can also improve their fine motor skills, which is very important in early childhood development. A study conducted on preschoolers who were taught to do basic activities like watering, planting, harvesting, and weed-pulling showed that their visual-motor skills were elevated at the end of the testing period. Outside of gardening, good visual-motor skills can influence how children perform in sports, activities of daily living, among others.

Encourages them to start projects

Passion projects can encourage children to explore their creativity and push their limits. At any level of difficulty, gardening is a great passion project to do with your kids. With your guidance, they do the planning themselves, from picking the plants they want to grow to the season they want to work on the project for. For instance, good summertime plants in Australia include herbs like mint and basil, as well as fruits and vegetables such as cucumber, tomato, and zucchini. You can list these down and let your kids choose amongst themselves.

Boosts their health

Lastly, spending time in home gardens has psychological and physical benefits, and some therapeutic value as well. More frequent gardening results in improvements in one’s well-being, stress levels, and physical activity. There’s also unmatched satisfaction when you see that your garden is flourishing thanks to your care. At least two to three times a week is best for your kids to fully enjoy themselves with gardening and its benefits.

Gardening is a healthy, fun, learning activity for children, and it’s a great way for your family to bond too!

Article exclusively for melbflowershow.com.au

Written by Jenny Alicia