Kids in the Garden

Gardening and time in the garden have so many benefits and subsequent learning outcomes for kids. It can calm and soothe, or give space for all that energy to be released BUT it can also teach responsibility & self-confidence, stimulate the senses, allows for endless creativity, and encourages reasoning and discovery as kids learn about the science of plants, insects, the environment and weather.

When my two boys were preschool age, my husband and I encouraged them to create their own garden outside their bedroom windows. They chose some plants, a garden ornament, and what they would use as a mulch.

1 garden had daffodils, yellow flowering daisies, small yellow-painted pebbles for the mulch and a gnome statue with a cheeky grin bearing his butt; the other had the most spikey cactus you have ever seen, succulents, river pebbles as a mulch and a lizard on a log was the garden ornament. My kids have very different personalities and it amazed me how their personalities come through in their gardens.

Here’s a really good article with heaps of ideas for sharing the benefits of gardening with your little people.

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/gardening-for-children