Fun Ways To Teach Children How to Garden

Want to get your kids to love fresh fruits and vegetables? Get them involved in gardening! Gardening can be an engaging activity that teaches kids about colorful nutritious foods while also instilling in them the value of caring for the source of their food –the Earth.

Here are a few tips to get your kids excited about a day in the garden:

Fun Factor. In the garden there’s no shortage of opportunities to intrigue and mesmerize your kids. You can do this by showing your kids an enormous vegetable, finding worms or showing off the vivid color of a fruit at the peak of ripeness.

 Cool Gear. Kids love to play dress-up and even role-play to bring their characters to life. Why not outfit your kids in junior size gloves, jeans, hats and gardening tools so they can become a little gardener for the day. You may want to read Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy and Carolyn Fisher, The Curious Garden by Peter Brown or Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert to help your kids get into the little gardener role.

Projects. While tilling and adding nutrients to the soil is better left to an adult, nurturing a seed is definitely a project for your kids. To make the project more engaging, have your kids decide what they want to grow and then give them the responsibility of watering it on a regular basis and monitoring its growth from seed to stem to mature plant.

Delicious Rewards. To reward your kids for their hard work in the garden, have them select a few recipes that will incorporate produce from the garden. Involve them in the preparation of these dishes so they will get to experience the garden-to-plate process.

These are just a few ideas to get your kids excited and involved in the garden. Whether you start with these, or a few ideas of your own, you will be fostering an authentic connection to fruits and vegetables that puts your kids’ health and the earth first.