How to Teach Children to Garden
By Heather Roberts
If you happen to have children and you really love gardening, this may be the perfect opportunity to teach them how. While there may be a million ways to get them interested in it, you can simply start with a few basic ideas and suggestions to get you going:
You must do your best to make it exciting and fun for the little ones. When kids realize that a seemingly boring task can be something lasting, with their efforts leading to a future where they have brought something into the world, they will feel curious enough to find out more. Whatever you plan on doing, try to make it fun or even a competition so they can feel obliged to help. After all, few kids can resist a good game of dare.
Prepare the children for the tasks ahead. A big part of what you can do to make it fun is to arm them with the right tools to tackle the challenges ahead. There are gardening tools meant for kids, made in the appropriate size and with more lively colors. Although such shiny and flashy things are not a necessary step, they can help encourage them to join in your efforts. Teach your kids how they must wash and clean their tools after they use them and make sure you make it as much fun as you can.
You should make sure you choose plants that happen to be easy to grow in the long run. You will want to choose such, as your kids will need to be as involved into it as possible. This is necessary, especially since the will be beginner gardeners and will need the extra help. You will need to choose a few plants to get the best harvest for your children, with good choices such as sweet peas, sunflowers, poppies, radishes, alyssum, squash, marigolds, tomato seedlings, pansies, lettuces, nasturtiums, beans and peas.
You will need to make sure your children know the basics of seedlings and planting seeds. You can do the hard work for them by adding the nutrients and tilling the soil. You can teach them these things later. Since they have small hands, you should focus on making the job easy for them. Plant the seeds in cardboard egg cartons, then cut out each egg holder when you need to transfer the seedling into the ground. This will allow the kids to plant them without too much trouble, while the carton itself will dissolve into the soil.
You should include wildlife in your gardening experience if you want a more thorough outcome. You can add a simple birdbath, feeders for squirrels, birds and any other animal life around your home. If you happen to have the space, you can even work on creating a pond for them to enjoy. Help the kids understand what animals should not be present in your garden and the ecosystem within in a way that they would understand. For more ideas visit our website.
Author Bio:
Heather Roberts is a freelance guest blogger from London, UK. She has many published articles on various topics such as gardening, landscaping and home maintenance etc. She loves to spend her time with family and friends and she also tries to live an eco-friendly life.