Most parents want their children to get outside away from phones, TV and
video games, and gardening is a great way to achieve this goal. However,
recent research shows that there are several other reasons to start a
garden with kids. The benefits range from making kids smarter to making
them healthier. Here are 10 great reasons to get kids gardening:
- Students who garden score higher on science tests.
Gardening is full of science. Children learn about plant classification,
weather, soil and plant pests and disease. They are introduced to botany in
a natural, hands-on way, and recent research shows that students who had
gardening experiences as part of their school curriculum did better on
standardized science tests than students who were not exposed to gardening
in school.
- If they grow it, they will eat it.
As a teacher, I’ve taught STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
and have served as a Junior Master Garden club leader. In these roles, I
witnessed the “if they grow it, they will eat it” phenomenon. Students love
to dig up what they have grown, and then curiosity gets the better of them
– they want to taste it.
Master Gardener Beth Tovi volunteered to mentor students in the garden for
eight years at the elementary school where she served as a media
specialist. She sees the nutritional and health benefits children gain from
gardening.
“With the growing concerns about obesity, diabetes and even high blood
pressure in children, gardening gets them physically active and outdoors.
And children will eat anything they grow – even if it’s green.”
- Digging in the dirt can make kids healthier.
Several studies show that children who were raised on farms don’t have as
many respiratory allergies or autoimmune disorders, or as much asthma as
children who were raised in urban areas, because children who live on farms
are exposed to more microbes and fungi in the dirt. Letting children get
outside and in the dirt may actually make them healthier than keeping them
tidy, clean and inside.
- Gardening strengthens emotional and interpersonal skills.
Children who garden learn responsibility, patience, perseverance and how to
deal with disappointment if the garden doesn’t grow the way they expected.
How do they collaborate with other siblings, friends or school mates to get
the garden work done? These are character-building skills that research
shows children reap in the garden.
I witnessed this one year at a school garden when we had a drought.
Watering the plants and trying to keep them healthy was an arduous task,
and the students and I learned about perseverance and team work.
- Gardening connects children with nature.
When children garden, they gain ownership in what they are cultivating. I
have seen my own children grow “attached” to the plants in the containers
on our patio garden. As children become more knowledgeable about all the
living things in the garden, they are less likely to be afraid of touching
the plants, getting soil on their hands or being near bugs. They are no
longer afraid of the unknown when they become familiar with what is in the
garden.
- Gardening helps relieve stress for the whole family.
A garden can be therapeutic. Not that your fourth grader is battling
traffic, raising children and feeling the demands of a pressure-ridden job,
but even kids can feel stress, and the garden is good for eliminating it.
In fact, a study in the Netherlands showed that after 30 minutes of
gardening, subjects who had shown stress before they gardened had a “fully
restored” positive mood. And if the adults in the family are feeling
stressed, and they garden with their children, it can help the whole family
feel more harmonious.
- Gardening teaches kids to problem-solve.
“When they garden, children learn problem-solving skills,” Tovi says. “They
say ‘This trellis doesn’t work very well. How can we make one that will
better support this kind of plant?'”
In a garden, children ask questions like “What is eating this plant?” or
“Is this tree dying?”
Once children become absorbed in solving the problems in a garden, they
want to research to find the best answers.
“They become sleuths, starting in the garden and heading into the
computers,” Tovi says.
- Gardening is a good work out.
Gardening is good physical labor involving muscles that don’t always get a
workout. Even the most seasoned gym-goer may admit to being sore the day
after working in a garden. Gardening involves stretching, bending, digging,
lifting, pulling and raking. Gross and fine motor skills are used, and even
the youngest gardener with simple tasks gets physical activity.
- Gardening helps children become environmental stewards.
When children start reaping the food and flowers that come from a garden,
they realize a garden’s impact on them and their impact on the garden. Once
they have this tangible experience, it is much easier to teach them to care
for the environment.
- Gardening can lead to a longer life.
Studies show that adults who garden in their later years live longer.
Instead of living a sedentary life, gardeners get off the couch and are
active in nature. Teaching children good habits when they are young will
make them more likely to follow them through life.
Sow the seeds of a garden with your child today, and see them reap the
benefits for a lifetime.
No Yard? No Problem!
When your backyard is a concrete patio or an apartment balcony, it’s hard
to imagine growing a bountiful garden. But it can be done in containers.
Choose some eco-friendly containers with drainage holes in the bottom, fill
them with a potting mix and then choose seeds or seedlings to plant.
Another option is to grow an herb garden inside on a sunny window ledge.
A great resource for starting a container garden is “The Vegetable
Gardener’s Container Bible: How to Grow a Bounty of Food in Pots, Tubs, and
Other Containers” by Edward C. Smith.
This book teaches even beginning gardeners how to grow organic food in
small spaces. The book covers container and tool selection, caring for
plants and controlling pests without chemicals.
With a little research and tender care, you can grow flowers and vegetables
that flourish.
Creative Theme Gardens to Grow with Kids
These interesting themes are a great way inspire children to garden.
- Pizza Garden
Grow all the herbs to add to a pizza. For an extra touch, make the garden
round like a pizza.
- Fairy Garden
This garden includes both plants and miniature structures and is a great
place for your child’s imagination to grow.
- Pollinator Garden
Build a garden that attracts butterflies, bees, birds, bats and other
insects and animals that will help pollinate plants. Try planting milkweed,
zinnias and snapdragons.
- Herb Garden
Herb gardens are a great way to foray into the world of gardening. They can
be grown inside or outside and include plants such as basil, oregano, sage,
thyme, parsley and many more.
- Art Garden
Students can grow flowers and plants that can be used to make art, or grow
a garden of plants for kids to sketch.
- Maze Garden
Create a maze with hedges, grasses or corn. In the middle of the maze, put
something interesting like a sculpture, fountain or another special garden
bed.
- Peter Rabbit Garden
Grow the vegetables found in Mr. McGregor’s garden. The great thing about
this garden is that you can grow some of the vegetables – carrots, lettuce,
radishes and cabbage – in cool weather, so you could continue to garden
into fall.
- Salsa Garden
Grow tomatoes, peppers and onions to make a delicious salsa.
- Wildflower Garden
Visit a nature preserve to discover the native wildflower plants in your
area. Then build a garden with those flowers.
- Three Sister’s Garden
Teach children about plants that grow well together, like corn, beans and
squash by cultivating the three in one mound.
