Many children love being outside interacting with nature. Gardening is one way to encourage their love of nature, allowing them to plant seeds and seedlings and take care of them so they grow into a beautiful garden. You can create a simple garden with your child or include your child in a more complex garden that spans the entire yard, write Lynda Fassa and Vanessa Williams, authors of "Green Kids, Sage Families: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Kids." However large or small you decide to go, a garden will teach your child how plants grow.
Create A Themed Garden
According to Sharon Lovejoy, author of "Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots: Gardening Together with Children," a themed garden will help you make plant selections to take advantage of the space you have dedicated to growing a garden. Try planting a pizza-themed garden by including a mix of tomatoes, bell peppers, rosemary and basil in your garden. As your ingredients grow, you can plan the pizza you will make. Another idea is a snacking and sipping garden, writes Lovejoy, in which you plant vegetables and fruits to snack on and edible flowers to adorn beverages with.
Plant An Animal Garden
Plants rely on animals for pollination, and animals depend on plants for food and shelter, according to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden guide, "Gardening with Children." Plant flowers and vegetables that attract animals and insects so you can watch them in action with your child. Many flowers are attractive to bees, giving your child the chance to learn a lot about how bees live just by watching them buzz around. Help the Honeybees, a website dedicated to increasing the honeybee population, recommends visiting a garden center to find out which flowers are native to your area, because these are more likely to attract bees. You can also ask about flowers and plants that draw birds, butterflies and insects.
Make a Gardening Journal
Creating a gardening journal will encourage your child to get up close and personal with her garden and take note of what is happening. Fassa and Williams recommend getting your children involved in the day-to-day activities that go on in a garden so they can learn more about living things. With a younger child, draw pictures or collect seeds. If your child is older, encourage her to make weather reports and keep track of how many of each flower or vegetable is produced from each plant. Track the growth of your garden by recording your largest, longest or heaviest vegetable.
References
- "Green Kids, Sage Families: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Kids"; Lynda Fassa and Vanessa Williams; 2009
- "Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots: Gardening Together with Children"; Sharon Lovejoy; 1999
- "Gardening with Children"; Brooklyn Botanic Garden; 2007
- Help the Honeybees: How You Can Help
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