Community
20 September, 2023
Dirty hands, happy faces
CHILDREN love to be outdoors, they love to get dirty and they love to feel they are doing something important.
What better way to combine all three than to have your children out working in the garden. Gardening offers children a great range of benefits and is a wonderful activity for those of all ages.
It can help them, develop many skills, learn about nature, grow their own vegetables and have fun at the same time.
Kids can see, touch, hear, smell and taste the plants and soil.
They can experience different colour, shapes, textures, sounds and flavours of the natural world.
Gardening – and in particular looking after their own ‘patch’ – can teach children responsibility; how to care for and look after living things by watering, pruning, weeding and harvesting their own plants.
Gardening can foster curiosity and discovery.
Children can explore the science of animals, weather, plants and the environment by watching how seeds sprout, how worms compost, how rain helps the garden and plants grow and how flowers pollinate in spring.
Gardening also offers the chance for self-confidence.
Children can feel proud of their achievements especially when their plants and flowers grow or their vegetables and fruit harvest.
This, in turn, also allows them to learn where fresh food comes from and how it can benefit their health.
Working with adults and other children in the garden can encourage cooperation and team-work.
They can learn to share, negotiate and communicate while forming a special bond with family and friends.
By working out in the garden, children can learn to appreciate the beauty and diversity of nature and to respect the environment and its surrounds.
Take the time to answer their questions and to feed their curiosity.
Time spent in the garden – away from technology – is time well spent.
