Research-backed
With winter almost coming to an end, the spring is getting close. It’s that season where birds chirp a little extra, flowers bloom to their fullest, and colors fill the world. Spring is also the perfect season to spend quality time outdoors with your kids. You don’t have to worry about the biting cold of winter or the scorching heat of summer. You can visit the park more frequently, go out on picnics with your family, and spend time bonding with your kids. Another amazing activity that you can do with your kids during the spring season is gardening. It’s a great way to teach your kids responsibility and improve mental health (1). So, without further ado, here are 7 reasons why you should start gardening with your kids:
1. Teaches Life Skills
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Gardening takes a lot of patience, hard work, and dedication. You have to care for the plant like it’s your baby, and you will only reap the benefits of it later. The plants grow slowly, and it’s a process with delayed gratification. It’s an art and requires persistence, observation, and a ton of patience. Teaching your kids the art of gardening helps instill these qualities in them.
2. Improves Eating Habits
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Growing your food encourages healthy eating habits. When you spend time and effort to grow your own food, it’s natural that you will want to eat it. Get your kids involved in gardening, and it might just be that easy for them to ditch the fries, burgers, and chocolates. They might even be motivated to try new food by growing them.
3. Fosters Love For Nature
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If you’re a nature lover, gardening is the best way to create that love among your kids. You are bound to fall in love with nature when you learn about the natural cycles of growth. From planting to seed to germination, growth, seed, fruit, and then shedding, you learn all about the magic of nature.
4. Teaches Where Food Comes From
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It’s hard to see where your food comes from these days with urbanization and digitalization. Everything you want is delivered to your doorstep with a click of a button. So kids do not have the opportunity to see where their food comes from, and gardening is a great way to teach kids the journey of food. It helps them appreciate and value food way more.
5. Creates Fulfillment And Satisfaction
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There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the plants you take care of produce fruit. It takes time for a plant to grow and give its produce, but when it does, the feeling of fulfillment is beyond measure. Imagine eating a plate of fruits or veggies you grew yourself. Do you think anything can beat that feeling?
6. Inculcates Environmental Responsibility
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Gardening teaches kids responsibility. They learn to be responsible for the plant, and this makes them responsible towards the environment too. You have to be consistent with gardening. Watering the plants every day, trimming and pruning them when required, and spraying them with necessary medicines to prevent pest attack is vital for healthy plant growth. These things teach your kids responsibility not only towards the plants but also the environment.
7. Satisfies Your Soul
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Gardening is therapeutic. It is an activity that helps boost well being and bring about positive energy and mood. It is an excellent bonding activity for the family and kids. Besides, it helps keep kids away from screens and spend time with nature, which is good for their soul. They learn a lot and become more appreciative of Mother Nature and everything she does for us.
If you and your kids are already gardening experts, you can probably relate to this article completely. But if you are a newbie, this is your time to start. With the dawn of the new year, you might be looking to start something new with your kids, so here is your chance to make the world around you and inside you beautiful with gardening. Share this article with your friends and family so they can reap the benefits of this fulfilling activity.
