Archive for June, 2008

Share Gardening Fun With Your Kids

Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm

Kids Gardening with your kids can be a wonderful experience for both you and the children. This activity can also teach the kids a true appreciation of nature and develop a love of plants that will last throughout their lives.

Children want to be a part of everything and gardening is no exception. Most kids enjoy getting dirty and working with soil allows them this joy of childhood. Before allowing them to begin the gardening activities of the day, dress them in practical clothing. Choose long pants to protect tender knees. Select old clothing which you will not mind if grass and dirt stains do not come out of the clothing.

Safety Issues

Before beginning a gardening project with your kids, you should have a safety discussion. Many gardening tools are perfectly safe for [children] to use, but others can be dangerous. Identify which tools they should not touch as well as any power tools such as lawn mowers, electric hedge trimmers, or sharp utensils such as hoes that must be avoided and only operated by adults.

Young children tend to put everything in their mouths. It is important to explain to kids that they can not put any gardening material into their mouths and should not put fingers into their mouths while gardening. Fertilizer and enriched soil can be poison to kids. Be prepared to carefully supervise the gardening activities because children quickly forget these rules and can place a finger in their mouth without thinking!

Children’s Gardening Tools

Kids need gardening tools that are correctly sized for smaller hands. You can purchase kid-sized gardening tools with brightly colored handles at affordable prices so that your kids

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can have their very own gardening tools. If you purchase a set for each child, select different colored handles to prevent arguments over who owns which tools.

Select a garden trowel, a rake and small shovel or spade for each child. A small wheelbarrow can be shared by the kids since this is a more expensive tool. Each child can own a brightly colored bucket for carrying soil. A small watering pot is also a great addition to the child’s tool set. You may wish to purchase children’s gardening tools in handy garden totes. These sets contain all the hand tools needed for basic gardening.

You can purchase, or if you are handy with a sewing machine you can sew, a gardening apron for each child. Knee pads can be found in cute designs such as lady bugs if you plan to spend a lot of time kneeling in the garden plot.

Create a Kids’ Garden Area

You can choose to allow the kids to help with your gardening chores if you wish. But kids really get into gardening when they are given their very own garden plot. Each child could have a small plot for their own plants to care for. This provides the best sense of ownership and will keep the child interested in the project all season.

Choose seeds and plants for the kids’ gardening plots that are easy to grow and require little regular care. Children like to see something produced by their efforts, either flowers or food. They are usually not as interested in growing plants that only provide foliage. Marigolds, snap dragons, and four-o-clocks make great choices for flowering plants. Cherry tomatoes or bell pepper plants let the children grow something good to eat.

Kids in the Main Garden Area

If the kids want to help in the main garden area, you can allow them to help you weed, aerate the soil, water, and harvest. Before allowing them to weed, be sure they are able to identify the plants which should not be removed. Otherwise, you will probably end up with none of the desired plants remaining and lots of weeds.

Kids can also help rake leaves. They may not be very effective doing this job, but they can have a lot of fun with the task. Then, when the leaves are piled high, everyone can enjoy jumping into the pile.

The Family which Gardens Together Stays Together

Gardening with the kids can build strong family ties. Parents too often have too little time to spend with their children and teach them skills. Gardening, as task you are going to be involved in anyway, is a great time to involve the entire family. Children that are included in family activities which include exercise, such as gardening, tend to be less likely to become obese, even as adults. They develop better fine motor skills and hand to eye coordination. They are also less likely to later become involved in crime, alcohol, drugs, and even less likely to pick up bad habits such as smoking. They are more likely to learn not to bully others, share with others, and be kind to everyone. The kids involved in family-oriented activities are also less likely to drop out of school and are more likely to earn good grades.

So, take time to share your gardening with your kids. Everyone will benefit from the experience. Your gardening chores may take a bit longer, but the time investment is well worth while. Don’t miss out on this valuable experience. Begin gardening with your kids now!