Gardening and Your Children
We all know that gardening is a very relaxing and fulfilling activity. You and your family can also take part in this activity and make it a family venture. Your family can experience all the fun and benefits of gardening and you can make it as one of your family bonding activities.
When starting gardening with your kids, start small so that they will not be overwhelmed by the work to be done. You can then expand your garden little by little as your family’s gardening skill and courage expands. For starters, get your kids some child-sized tools. You can buy these at your local nursery or the garden center. Try to look for tools that look genuine so that the kids will feel like real gardeners. Be willing to accept less than perfect looking gardens with crooked rows and stray weeds here and there.
Before starting to plant in your garden, you and your kids can have a little “experiment”. You can place some seeds on wet tissue paper and place them in a sandwich bag. This will make the seed germinate faster. The kids can observe how the roots grow and steer towards the water as well as the how the leaves grow and steer towards the sunlight. After your little experiment, you can transfer the seedlings on the ground or on the containers. They will have a bigger chance of survival this way. The experiment will teach your children and make them more fascinated with the plants that you will soon be planting in your real garden.
When everything is all set, start small, like in your window boxes. If you have none, then start on a small patch in your garden and you can then expand as your family’s gardening skills grow. Don’t forget to leave an area in your garden for your kids to dig even if all the plants are in place. Children just love to dig and look for anything like worms. Set an area also where you can put some poles and fashion some chicken wire to form an arc. You can then train some ivy around the chicken wire and presto! You have an instant shade where you can sit and rest and your kids can play. You can add hummingbird feeders, spinners and chimes which will make your garden more interesting.
Include your family on planning as to what plants and flowers they would like to grow in your garden. You can let them help in plotting your flower beds and the overall design of your garden. This way they will really feel like real gardeners at the same time, they will be proud of your garden because they are part of its growing process.
To make the garden more interesting to your kids, you can plant some sunflowers and small vegetable plants like cherry tomatoes and herbs that you can use when cooking your family’s favorite dish. Plant also some fragrant flowers and herbs like peonies,lavender,chocolate and pineapple mint. Show you kids how to rub the herbs between their fingers in order to appreciate their scent.
You can teach your children how to make a compost. The compost can be placed in an out of the way area in your garden. This way, it will be hidden. You can dig a hole in the ground and toss in rinds and peels from fruits and vegetables. You can also include tea bags, eggshells and coffee grounds. Don’t include anything that ever swam, walked or flew. Cover the compost and wait for several months so that the mixture will decompose. When it will become crumbly and black, you can then mix it with your garden soil. This way, you can teach your children the importance of recycling as well as organic gardening.
The fun isn’t over when the garden is planted. Kids love to catch bugs and worms and then introduce them into the garden. Let them water with interesting containers or spray nozzles for the water hose. Children simply loves watering the plants, as well as themselves.
dvesycq9xi
