Chances are the kids are looking for something to do this summer.  Get them involved in the garden.

Gardening teaches children respect and concern for nature.  It reinforces what children learn in science class, plus gardens encourage creativity and self-discipline.  Gardening also promotes healthy eating through vegetable gardens. It’s fun for everyone in the family.

Here are some projects that will help your children to get started in the garden.

Start out small.

Bring your kids out when you tend the garden and have them identify the plants. Let them take a guess and have a talk about what each plant is and maybe what it does. (i.e. attracts butterflies or changes color).

Demonstrate the tough parts.

We all know keeping a garden looking beautiful is not always a picnic and that’s life. Have your children help you weed to demonstrate that life has challenges that they will have to overcome, but if you work hard and weed, a beautiful garden is the reward!

Pick the harvest.

Kids love a reward for all their hard work. Let them plant and tend to the vegetable garden, but also let them eat from the harvest. Show them that the veggies that grow is their benefit for doing a great job in the garden! This will promote healthy eating and self-satisfaction.

Show them properly.

Watering is a big job and a very important one. Show them how important it is. Explain to them that plants drink water from their roots and need water especially in the summertime, just like people do.

Plant with them.

Adding or enhancing a perennial garden is a great summer project.  Let the kids help you with all aspects – picking out new plants, preparing the area, planting them and taking care of them throughout the year.  Share your knowledge, encourage questions, research answers, start a conversation. It’s a great opportunity to explain the different parts of the plants in your garden, as well as the difference between an annual and a perennial.

Encourage them to document the process.  

Garden journals come in handy when you want to know the things you learned in the garden. This is a great opportunity to improve the writing skills they learned in school or even the typing skills on the computer. Every time they join you in the garden, have them write a couple sentences about what they saw, what they did and what they liked about gardening that day.
If the kids are more the shutterbug-type, motivate them to take photos or videos of the garden.  Document your adventure; then plan to relive it on a cold winter day.

Plan a meal with the crop.

Vegetable gardens promote healthier eating, and allow for a great lesson in the kitchen. List out the different vegetables and herbs you use and pull out some recipes to cook with your kids.   If they’re old enough, have them research possible recipes on line, or let them browse your cookbooks for ideas.
Cooking will help them exercise their math and reading skills, and planning from their garden will help them gain skills in preparation and organization.

If you don’t have many vegetables or herbs growing, plan a visit to a local farmer’s market or take them to the grocery store and explain that the different items from the produce section come from gardens. This allows for children to make the connection of where vegetables come from.

Look to next year.

Next summer could be really fun in the garden, since your child has developed a gardening interest. Start planning the garden; what kinds of flowers to plant, what your garden is going to look like, etc.

You can even promise your child a spot in the garden to call their own, so they can use the knowledge they learned this summer. Children love something that’s their very own.  Adding a sign with their name on it to show ownership of that space, such as “Mary’s Garden” or “Mary’s Beans” will keep the child interested and aware of their space. If more than one child has plants growing in the same garden, this can minimize disputes over whose plants are whose. It also creates another family arts & crafts project to make the signs.

“Patience is a virtue,” and waiting for flowers and vegetables to mature can begin to teach the rewards of patience. Watching a garden grow may not be easy: children may want to pull up young carrots and radishes to see if they are “done.” Even if they do pull up a few young plants, they may be far enough along to wash off and give a taste of bigger things to come.

Watching your child grow

Gardening activities provide an ideal time to really talk to your child. Talk a little about how plants grow, and talk about the birds, insects and worms (kids love worms!) and all that good gardening stuff. But the privacy and quiet of a garden is also an excellent place to just talk about “things” such as school and friends, hopes and dreams. Ask them if they were a plant, what would they tell the gardener?

You’ll be surprised what you can learn in your child’s garden, and your opportunity to hear your child’s thoughts will help you guide their personal growth as well as their gardening growth.

Instilling love, respect and understanding of how nature works and how it affects us all is especially important for the future of our children and the world at large. And it can all begin in a child’s garden.

Want to learn more?  Visit one of our English Gardens stores in Metro Detroit and talk to the experts.