Gardening with Children: Top 4 Benefits
Now that the warmer weather has arrived, what better way to spend your time, than enjoying some gardening. Most kids love to be outdoors, it’s good for their health and it will help them develop! If you happen to have a garden, then there are so many positive benefits to gardening with children.
4 Benefits to why you should do gardening with children:
Patience & Responsibility
Children will quickly learn that growing any sort of vegetable from a seed requires care for it to grow. Ensuring their plant is regularly watered and taken care of, helps them understand that they need to be responsible. Otherwise their plant will not flourish.
(The lightweight wellies in this photo are Bubble Boots! Perfect for all year round & gardening)
They will also learn that gardening isn’t an overnight process. If they want to grow something beautiful, it takes time, this is where they will learn to be patient. By helping your little one care for a plant or vegetable and teaching them to be patient. This will make the moment their flower/vegetable sprouts magical for them!
Sensory Development
Gardening will engage all senses to help your child develop. They can smell different flowers, see different colour leaves and flowers, and feel the texture of soil, seeds, and vegetables!
It will also promote their gross and fine motor skills. Gardening requires digging, carrying, lifting, watering, and keeping a careful eye on the garden. This will benefit your little one now and, in the future. As they develop their motor skills now, it will help them to improve their academic skills in the future too!
Encourages Health Eating
Most of the time, if your children are growing their own vegetables, it is likely they will be interested in what they taste like too! For some children, vegetables are a food that is often seen as the least favourite. However by encouraging them to do gardening, this can help change their mindset.
Growing vegetables with them not only shows them the hard work that goes into growing a vegetable, but it will also give them a sense of achieve if they know they have grown it themselves.
They will also get a better understanding of the different vegetables and fruits that are in the world and which ones they can grow in their garden.
Improves Their Knowledge
Being in the garden offers the opportunity to learn about all the different shapes and colours of plants, fruits, and vegetables. As well as the potential animals or insets they may come across in the garden. The wider topics they could also learn about, which will help them as they through school could be the changing seasons and weather, as well as the life cycles of plants, animals, and mini beasts.
Their numeracy and literacy skills can also be developed by counting in the garden, it could be as simple as counting how many leaves are on a plant and they can help read the different names of seeds to develop their literacy.
Gardening with Children in conclusion:
When it comes to outdoor activities, gardening has to be one of the most rewarding! It is fantastic for development in little ones, whether you are gardening in pots on your balcony, in a community patch or in your back garden, children that engage in gardening will gain a whole lot more than just food and flowers. Don't forget to pop on a pair of wellies & have a good set of gardening tools.
If you and your little one gets up to any gardening then remember to tag us in the fun using the hashtag #WetWednesdaysFamily or tag us @WetWednesdays.co.uk