Starting your own organic garden was probably one of the best decisions you made for your family. Not only are you saving money on produce by growing your own fruits and vegetables, but you’re giving your children the opportunity to participate in a highly beneficial activity!
Gardening isn’t just for adults. It’s an easy way to keep your children outside in nature and establish habits that turn into beliefs.
Whether you have a balcony garden with potted plants or your own backyard greenhouse, it’s important to incorporate your children into your gardening routine.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits gardening holds for children.
1.Promotes healthy eating
Want your kids to get excited about eating fruits and veggies? Have them do the gardening! No matter your age, half the fun of gardening is eating what you grow. Teach your children at a young age how good it feels to pull a sun-ripened raspberry off the bush and savor the juicy sweetness.
Fortunately, more schools around the country are embracing hands-on gardening programs to encourage children to get their hands dirty. Even if your school has one of these programs, we still recommend bringing your children into your own garden.
2.Provides a way to burn energy
There’s nothing quite like a tuckered out toddler that’s been in the sun all day and there’s no question that gardening is a physical activity. Involving your children in the digging, raking, turning compost (depending on their age, of course) is a great way to engage their muscles.
With routine participation, children come to recognize the value of healthy activity. Once they’ve participated in the physical tasks of food growing, they’re more likely to understand the value of staying active.
3.Boosts self-confidence
As adults, we know how good it feels to put hard work into creating the right kind of soil, starting our own compost pile, working with seedlings, transplanting them into the earth, and watching them grow. Involving your children in this process is a sure-fire way to boost their confidence.
Organic gardening improves your child’s ability to learn and grow, but it also teaches them the payoff and satisfaction of hard work. As a farming community, this mentality is something Iowans know very well.
4.Reduces stress
If you’re someone who’s cooped up in an air-conditioned office all day you know the value of getting home, putting on your gardening gloves, and enjoying the fresh air. Your children need the same experience. While tending their plants, they can breathe fresh air, find a place of peace, and just be by themselves.
5.Improves focus and memory
Organic gardening is a therapeutic practice and helps children perform better mentally. Giving them access to green space allows them to focus better, which leads to memory and attention improvement.
6.Teaches organization
No organic garden can grow without an organized gardener. Gardening requires critical organization skills that they will develop and maintain for years to come. Get your kids involved from the beginning so they know a good garden starts with a well-thought-out gameplan.
Involve your children in all stages of planning including the label creation process. Help them create plant markers using MCG biomarkers that contain all of the information you need to help each plant grow successfully. Choose from four different colors and sizes to suit your garden best.
