7 Reasons to Start Gardening with Your Kids

With sunnier days ahead, we're extremely thrilled that Spring is nearly here! It's the perfect time to spend the days outdoors and take on gardening with your kids! In addition to presenting amazing health benefits, gardening allows for an enriching family bonding experience. So no matter what the color of your thumb is, here are some of our favorite reasons to begin a hobby that you can share with your little ones:

1. TEACHES LIFE SKILLS

Gardening is hard work and takes a tremendous amount of patience. It is a great lesson in delayed gratification since it can be weeks or months between planting and sprouting. Caring for plants is a great way to teach kids about how to care for another living thing. Gardening also takes persistence, observation, and problem solving to realize that you may have over or under watered. Once a routine is established, kids will get excited to take on a new role of independence and responsibility!

2. ENCOURAGES HEALTHY EATING HABITS 

Growing your own food encourages you to eat it - it's that simple. When children are involved in gardening it gives them an opportunity to explore new foods that they may never knew they loved (or maybe some they don't like and that's okay too!)

3. TEACHES WHERE FOOD COMES FROM

Especially if you live in a city, it's hard for kids to imagine where produce they see in grocery stores come from. Gardening gives great insight on how seeds undergo a lot of stages with much care to get to our dining table. 

4. FOSTERS A LOVE FOR NATURE

There's nothing better than learning about the natural cycles that occur in nature. From seed to plant and everything in between, there are so many valuable teachable moments within gardening including nature's lifecycles, insects, weather and so much more.

5. CULTIVATES ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

Just as they learn the responsibility of caring for a plant, gardening teaches kids to be more responsible for the environment as well. Gardening, season after season, will teach the value and importance of maintaining a clean garden bed and ridding it of waste and debris

6. THE JOY OF GROWING SOMETHING YOURSELF

There's nothing like serving up a plate of fruit or veggies that you grew yourself. The true meaning of farm to table. Show off your garden in the growing process to home visitors for children to take pride in their hard work!

7. simply, GOOD FOR THE SOUL 

Just like adults, kids have stress too. Gardening is a full sensory experience that gives us a chance to pause and just take time out from electronics and spend time with each other. It keeps the kids busy exploring, thinking, learning about the wonders of nature. It’s a time out from the rest of life when they just get to concentrate on enjoying nature and being outdoors.

Want more? Get more tips on how to garden with kids including the most kid-friendly plants to start with and what books to read to keep the excitement going - download our gardening guide below!