Why You Should Consider Gardening For Your Children

Its really sad to drive down one of our highways and see how nature is treated these days. Not a lot of people today pay much attention to the environment. And you may wonder what we can do about this. Well we can start with the children by teaching them the love of nature through involving them in gardening. Gardening is a great nature-loving activity where children can learn the love-of-nature. Lets talk about the various things that children can learn through gardening.

Science

When children dig a hole and plant seeds children are taught the wonders of science by watching the life cycle of a plant and how humans can influence the environment. You are teaching children the miracle of life through a seed. You might want to consider purchasing a pack of small cups and prick holes in the bottom of each cup. Then fill each cup with planting soil and into the soil of each cup plant two bean seeds. Show the children each step as you go along especially the seeds and let them carefully water the top of the dirt and then set your cups with the bean seeds in a warm window with plenty of sunlight. When the seeds spring up and the bean plants come up your children will be amazed. Set the bean plants in the sink to water them and they can be transplanted outside after the danger of frost. I also suggest printing off materials about the life cycle of a plant and share it with the children. Just keep it all simple so the kids can understand easily.

Children, especially the younger children will be amazed at planting a seed in the ground and watching it push up through the soil and turn into a living plant. In time children will learn to love their plants and the life in them. By having your children learn about gardening in time it will teach the children that plants and other things in nature should be treated with care. As you teach the children about gardening you should teach them short brief lessons about the importance to plants of water, sunlight, air, and soil. Keep the lesson on each straight and to the point. Keep it brief so you don't over load the children with knowledge. You can easily explain why water is important to plants and with out water the plants will not grow and may even die if they receive no water at all. You can explain that you plant seeds in soil and if the soil is warm and water is added the seed will soon germinate and the plants will come up.

Quality Time With Your Kids

Through gardening and teaching your children to garden you get to spend wonderful quality time with your children. If you start a garden with your children set aside enough time one day a week to work with the children in the garden. You can spend time talking to your children while all of you are working in the garden. Be sure that your children remain aware of the needs of the plants in your garden.

Birds And Other Wildlife Love Gardens

You can put up several bird houses of various types around the garden and teach the children what kind of birds use each type of bird house. You can put up bird feeders at the edge of your garden just outside the windows of your house and teach children all about the various birds that visit the bird feeders. Just off to the side under the bird feeders you can set up a bird bath or two and attract even more birds. You can plant a row of sunflowers in the garden and let the birds have the seeds when the sun flowers mature. All the time your children will be learning about nature.

Grow tomatoes of various types in the garden so that when the tomatoes are ripe that you can cut up a few tomatoes into slices and let the children taste them. You want your children to interact with the garden and the nature around it and learn from it. Teach your children the love of nature while you bond with them.

Keep your garden with the children simple so that it will be easy to take care of with only an hour or two a week. You can purchase a field guide to birds and one to insects and you and your children can have fun doing the garden and learning all about nature.

Teach each child to keep a guide about the garden and the nature around it. Have them to make notes about the garden, about the birds , the insects and other types of nature they encounter in and around the garden.

Use Radishes To Teach A Quick And Easy Lesson

You can teach your children a quick and easy lesson by preparing the ground and planting radishes. Radishes grow quickly and when they are grown you can wash them and let the children taste them. Radishes grow in thirty days or less in warm weather and most children love radishes. If its nice and warm outside water the radishes often and the children can almost watch them grow.

Some other interesting lessons you can teach the children about gardens are.

1. Honey Bees , Why Are They Important To Gardens. 

2. Earth Worms , How Many Hearts Do They Have.

3. Ants , What Do They Do.

4. Why Are Birds In The Garden.

5. What Do Cardinal's Eat. , What About Other Birds.