Horticulture or gardening tends to be an immensely engaging and fulfilling outdoor activity that both grownups and kids can indulge in. In fact, adults who spend their leisure time by cultivating variety of plants in their gardens can encourage children to take up gardening as a hobby.
When children learn gardening and pursue the activity regularly, they become aware about their immediate surroundings, and the significance of preserving the environment. Contrary to what most people think, horticulture is not time-consuming, costly or intricate. You can make the most of the following tips to teach kids how to garden.
Use the Appropriate Tools
When it comes to gardening, all gardeners require a few essential tools including but not limited to shovel, gloves, and hand trowel. The same principle holds for children as well. You can buy a small gardening kit box where the little one can store the gardening tools like hoe, hand trowel and spade among other essentials.
Teach the child how to use the tools effectively and make sure she puts her learning into practice.
Rustle Up a Sumptuous Supper or Lunch
Your child will be enormously thrilled when she discovers that the garden produce can be used to fix a sumptuous meal.
At the same time, you can help your child in preparing a delicious meal so as to make the experience unique and memorable. You can team up with your kid to prepare garden strudel, garden vegetable pie, roasted vegetable soup, creamy garden chowder, and much more.
You can teach your child the values of compassion and charity by distributing the surplus produce to the poor and needy. Alternatively, you can donate the extra garden produce to a NGO or food bank.
Encourage Kids to Adopt Good Habits
Gardening, like all other productive activities, needs to be practiced regularly in order to become proficient in it. Ensure that your child lends you a helping hand on a regular basis. Teach her that plants should be nurtured with painstaking care so that they grow up to be healthy and yield a quality crop.
Show her how to maintain the tools properly once she is done with using them by keeping them in the garden toolbox.
Take Your Child to a Farmers’ Market
You can make your child understand and realize where and how the ingredients for meals are sourced by taking her to a farmers’ market. A trip to a farmers’ market or a farm will enable the kid to comprehend how gardening is carried out a grand scale. Children come to know how farmers plant the crops, take care of the growing plants, and harvest the produce.