Gardening With Your Kids

A few posts ago I talked about the little steps towards healthy eating that I do with my family. One of the ways I provide healthy food is by growing some of our own veggies in the summer.

I grew up with a family of gardeners so I have a bit of an advantage when it comes to the amount of background  knowledge I have. Nonetheless, I have had my fairshare if gardening failures but haven't let it deter me from continuing to try new plants and grow new things. 

I am now trying to teach my daughter these things so she develops a love and appreciation of gardening too. I love seeing my child's eyes light up as she sees the perennials pop up each spring and the excitement when the first tomato appears on a plant or he first strawberry is ready to be picked. 

I am a firm believer that children should see plants grow and so they understand where plants come from and how much work goes into helping them grow. Also, children seem much more eager to eat veggies when they've helped grow them!

The return on investment is really pretty good. A few dollars for a set of tomato or pepper plants, some herbs, or any other plant will usually provide I have more than we can eat at the end of the season.

I strongly encourage you to garden with your children, even if you only do a simple potted plant such as a tomato plant or a bowl of lettuce. No one says you need a full size farm. The process of planting, caring for, and harvesting is full of teachable moments. 

Here are some other tips I've gathered:


~Grow a theme garden. For example, a pizza garden. Grow pizza ingredients - basil, tomatoes, oregano, onion, and green peppers, etc.

~Let you child feel special by giving then their own kid size gloves and shovel/spade to use while helping you or working in their own special area. 

~Plant a sensory garden. Let you child explore gardening by using all their senses. Kids enjoy touching plants so plant a variety of textures, lambs ear is very soft in contrast straw flowers are very crispy. Sense of smell is very powerful. Look for fragrant flowers such as sweet peas, marigolds, and freesia. Bright colors are great visual stimulators. Look for a varity if colors or let your child pick their favorite color but in a variety if plants. Introduce new tastes by picking a few new veggies that your child has never tried and make a special meal out of it come harvest time. 

~Encourage your child to experience all the things that go along with gardening. Let them browse the seeds at the store and chose flowers or vegetables they want to grow. Have them start seeds in simple Dixie cups ans place near a window to grow in they are big enough to transplant outside.

~If you have enough room let hem have those own little comer of the garden to plant and care for.

In the end it doesn't matter how much you harvest from your garden, the important thing is to let your child enjoy the expierence.