Garden – by definition (Oxford) – a piece of ground adjoining a house, in which grass, flowers, and shrubs may be grown.
Over the years we have spent time in our garden with specific family garden projects from creating a flower garden with a bug hotel, butterfly house and even dabbled in companion planting. We have built a vegetable garden growing leek, carrots, turnips, potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. Fruit trees blossoming and bringing us fruit in another garden bed.
The reasons for the garden projects varied from keeping the littles entertained, to diving into learning through play, getting closer to nature and appreciating the outdoors more.
Having a garden has brought us not just so many special memories and opportunities to connect with one another but for me it has brought a deeper understanding there is a season for everything in life! I won’t go into the details here on this one as I will dedicate a whole blog to just this!
So, my key take away’s on why you need to do gardening with kids are:
The opportunities to engage in sensory exploration – feeling the dirt, mud, flowers, petals, stems, seeds…engaging all 5 senses.
The use of fine and gross motor skills…planting seeds, scooping dirt, harvesting and hand/eye co ordination.
The concepts of Science and Maths – counting seeds, counting petals, digging holes based on depth, measuring water to care for the plants, discussions about sunlight, rain, how plants grow and stay alive…the learning here is endless.
Responsibility – learning to tend to something in order for it to remain alive and healthy.
Healthy Eating – enjoying the fruits of one’s labour…eating fruit and vegetables grown from our very own garden…developing a sense of ownership with their eating choices.
But the biggest and most memorable take away is that of ‘patience’. Watching things grow from a seed to a plant/tree and waiting for the plants to grown in certain seasons.
If you are keen to try gardening with your littles, what do you think you will start with?
