One of the best parts about gardening is building community. There’s something special about sharing the experience of planting and nurturing seeds, and watching them grow — especially when it’s with kids. Their innate curiosity and ability to see things with a set of fresh eyes makes gardening a wonderful physical, mental, and educational activity.
We’ve put together this resource to provide you with everything you need to get started gardening with kids. This guide will cover five important elements of gardening with kids.
Menu:
- How to Create a Kid-Friendly Garden
- Gardening Safety Tips for Kids
- Benefits of Gardening
- Kid-Friendly Gardening Tools
- Kids Gardening Activities and Lesson Plans
继续读下去,为孩子们找到一些园艺资源,在这个周末开始!
How To Build A Kid-Friendly Garden
Whether you have a few acres of land, just enough space for two or three garden beds, or you’re making do with your side yard, gardening can be customized to fit the space. That said, if you intend on gardening with your kids, there are a few things to keep in mind when planning a kid-friendly garden.
1 – Build Accessible Garden Beds
还记得你小的时候,你得伸手到很远的地方才能从食品柜最上面的架子上拿麦片吗?你最不希望的就是你的孩子在花园里也有同样的经历。不要安装高的高台或悬挂的花盆,因为他们需要一个踏凳才能到达,考虑使用较短的高台,低到地面或在他们的臀部水平。
Editor’s Tip: Our kids love gardening inside of ourgalvanized water troughsand they’re the perfect height.
或者,你也可以完全废弃培育床,直接播种到地里。然而,唯一的问题是,一个凸起的床让你开始的土壤已经是理想的生长。如果你的土壤多岩石,干燥,超级潮湿,或高酸性,可能需要一段时间来修复它(可能会让你的孩子失望的同时)。
2 – Plant Quick-Growing Seeds
Though you’re free to try whatever seeds catch your kid’s eyes, you may want to consider starting off with some easy-to-grow plants that have a quick germination rate, so your kids can start seeing the magic of gardening within a few weeks. Here are a few quick-growing easy plants to start.
3 – Utilize Plant Markers
如果你计划在一个花园的床上种植各种不同的种子,考虑使用植物标记来区分不同的植物。如果你和年幼的孩子一起播种,他们可能不会排得很整齐,不同的作物混种在一起可能是不可避免的。
Additionally, plant markers will give you the opportunity to talk to your kids about how different vegetables grow in different ways. So not only are plant markersDIY easyand super functional, they allow for teachable moments, too.
4 – Be Mindful of Thorns and Pokey Plants
Even if you aren’t growing landscape plants with your kids, make sure to be mindful of any thorny or pokey plants that could pose a risk for the little ones. Either avoid adding those types of plants to your garden, or transplant your current ones to another area of the garden where the kids won’t be active.
Gardening Safety Tips For Kids
As with any activity for kids, there are some important safety precautions to take before you start gardening.
Avoid Using Chemical Fertilizers And Insecticides
At Insteading, we like to promote organic gardening, and that includes avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides in the yard and garden. These chemicals are harmful to soil development and our planet as a whole, and they are definitely something you don’t want your kids exposed to.
So instead of reaching for a spray bottle full of chemicals, fertilize your garden in a more sustainable way, and go withan organic fertilizer option.
Sun Protection
虽然这篇文章关注的是孩子们的园艺技巧,但这是一个重要的安全技巧,可以让我们所有人受益。每次你出去在花园里花时间,确保你是正确的保护。The sun is not only harmful to your skin, if you aren’t properly prepared, but heat exhaustion can also happen.
Make sure you and your little ones are ready to spend a few hours in the sun by wearing sunscreen, a wide-brimmed hat, and some UV-resistant outdoor wear. Additionally, to avoid heat exhaustion, make sure to stay hydrated, eat healthy snacks, and take breaks as you need.
Wear Closed Toe Shoes
While kid’s sandals are easy to slip on and go, you’ll want to go with closed toes for gardening. A pair of good sneakers will prevent bee stings on tiny toes and make using metal tools (like shovels) a lot safer. A shoe with a heavy-duty sole will also keep their feet safe on rough gravel and other uneven surfaces.
Benefits Of Gardening For Kids
Aside from growing your own food and beautifying your yard, gardening has many educational, physical, and mental health benefits to offer you and your little ones.
Educational Benefits Of Gardening
Whether you’re an educator planning onstarting a class garden with your studentsor a parent or caregiver starting a garden in your own backyard, one of the greatest benefits of gardening with kids is the educational lessons they can learn.
Sensory Experience
Gardening is the perfect opportunity to do some hands-on sensory learning with your kids. They see, smell, and touch vegetables and fruits as they’re growing, and after your harvest, they can taste the vegetable and hear what noises it makes as they’re eating it.
They’ll be able to learn about every plant in the garden from a variety of different perspectives, and it will be the best hands-on experience they can get with the food system. Here’s a great resource forhow to start a sensory learning garden.
Hands-on Experience With the Food System
For many kids growing up, the closest experience they get with their food system is picking out fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, or the pumpkin patch on an autumn day trip. Many kids who don’t grow up on a farm or in the country don’t have the opportunity to experience what the food system really looks like.
By planting a backyard garden, you’re providing your kids with the opportunity to experience their food from the ground up. By showing them the entire process, they will get a better grasp on how long it takes for just one vegetable to get to the grocery store, and why it’s important to not waste food.
Life Skills From Gardening
Along with providing your kids with a hands-on educational experience, gardening can give you the opportunity to teach your kids important life skills.
Gardening Teaches Responsibility
Growing a garden isn’t as simple as throwing seeds in the ground and waiting for something to happen. When you’re growing multiple plants at a time, you become responsible to make sure they’re well watered, weeded, and protected against bugs, deer, and maybe even the neighbor’s dog.
Putting your kids in charge of their own section in the garden is a great way to teach them responsibility, and what happens when they neglect it.
Gardening Teaches the Importance of Being Organized
如果你已经是一个狂热的园丁,你就会知道什么时候你需要播种、浇水和收获的时间表是多么的重要。在花园里有条理是关键,尤其是当种植各种不同的植物时,它们都有不同的需求。
Related Post:Garden Planners
Take this opportunity to teach your kids about the importance of staying organized both in the garden and real life. If one of your plants is sick or has died, take your kids aside and talk to them about what went wrong. Was there something that could have been organized better, or was it due to another circumstance?
Physical Benefits Of Gardening
Gardening is a great activity for going outside, getting a little dirty, and breaking a sweat. Gardening gets your kids moving, and exercising muscles that they may not usually use. Gardeningrenews dexterity and strengthand works well as an aerobic exercise, especially when it comes to weeding, raking, and digging.
Mental Health Benefits Of Gardening
Along with educational and physical benefits, gardening also provides your kids with some importantmental health benefits. Gardening can be highly therapeutic and can calm us if we’re stressed or anxious.
Gardening also makes us feel more connected to our surroundings. Activities like weeding, digging, or raking can help us release frustration or mental tension that we might be experiencing.
Kid-Friendly Gardening Tools
There are lots of different kid-friendly gardening tools available online, but many of them are plastic and aren’t actually functional. Depending on how old your kids are, you can find kid-size tools that get the job done.
Plus, older kids will definitely appreciate the fact they can use a shovel that actually works compared to the plastic stuff they’ve used in the past.
Kids Gardening Hand Tools
Featuring an easy to grip wood handle and metal top,these hand toolsare the perfect size for smaller hands while still being effective. This is a good set of basic tools that will allow your kids to do a variety of gardening chores.
Kids Gardening Tall Tools
对于像耙、除草和清理院子这样的杂务,可以考虑为孩子们准备这个高大的工具。
Gardening Gloves
Make sure to protect those hands from blisters or cuts with a pair of kids gardening gloves. This 3-pack of gloves is made of cotton and features a knit wrist to keep dirt out.
Gorilla Dump Cart
大猩猩垃圾车是我们最喜欢的花园主食之一,因为它用途广泛。用它来收集院子里的垃圾。把你的重土袋拉进去。用它作为你的种子,工具和水的补给车。
Kids Gardening Activities And Lesson Plans
Whether you’re growing a backyard garden with your kids or grandkids, or a teacher looking to set up a class garden, here are a few of our favorite gardening lessons plans to round out your activity.
10 Best Resources For School Garden Lesson Plans
Here is a round-up of some ofour favorite school garden lesson plans. They’re broken down by age, allowing you the find an appropriate lesson for every kid in your family.
Grow An Herb Garden
If you have a small yard, or live in an apartment without access to an outdoor space,growing a patio or balcony herb gardenmight be your best option. You’ll still be able to teach your kids the same lessons, just on a smaller scale.
Math Game For Preschoolers
This lesson plan idea is fairly simple, but it’s a greatcounting game for preschoolersthat also gets them outside and in the garden.
Soil Is Alive! Lesson Plan
Here’s a lesson plan that willteach kids about soiland all the microbes, insects, and small animals that inhabit it. This lesson can be adapted for middle grade and high school students.
Seed Germination Lesson Plan
Teach your kids about seed germination withthis lesson plan二到五年级。这个项目可以在花园里,在温室里,甚至在窗台上完成。
Leave a Reply