The Benefits Of Gardening With Your Kids

If you're looking for an interactive outdoor activity to enjoy with your kids, you just can't beat gardening. Whether you're growing fruits, vegetables, or flowers, your kids will love getting their hands dirty while watching as their hard work yields a bountiful harvest. Let's check out a few of the many benefits gardening with your kids offers, along with some tips to help ensure your garden's success!

Encourages Healthy Eating

Many kids don't like vegetables and have no interest in trying new ones. But when they grow the veggies themselves and pull them out of the dirt with their own hands it just might inspire them to want to give it a try!

Stress Relief

It's a sad truth that children now have more stress than ever before. Stress relief is essential to protecting your child's mental health; gardening provides a healthy outlet to release built-up anxiety and decompress.

Develops Problem-Solving Skills

Gardening allows your child to think analytically and develop problem-solving and STEM-based thought processes. They are participating in an educational activity, but they'll only care about how much fun they're having!

Builds Confidence

Watching as their plants grow and begin developing fruits and vegetables will help build confidence in your child. They will feel a sense of accomplishment and pride seeing the results of their hard work.

Fosters Patience & Mindfulness

Teaching kids patience can be challenging in a world of instant gratification. Gardening is an excellent way to foster this important trait as your child cares for their seedlings, often without seeing results for many weeks. Learning this discipline early will help set them on the path to success as they grow.

Creates Memories

The memories you create while gardening with your kids will stay with them well into adulthood and become a cherished part of their childhood. Spending one-on-one time together outside and getting your hands dirty is the perfect background for laughs, deep conversations, and comfortable silence, and it is sure to become everyone's favorite part of the day.

10 Tips On Starting Your Garden

These tips will help you get your garden off to a great start:

  1. Choose a spot with plenty of sunlight
  2. Determine the climate zone you live in
  3. Choose seasonally appropriate plants
  4. Use high-quality soil
  5. Set your garden near a water source like a hose
  6. Consider using a raised planter bed if you don't have good soil in your area
  7. Choose hearty, beginner-friendly plants
  8. Try a variety of vegetables and fruits
  9. Grow foods your family enjoys (and some they've never tried)
  10. Get a set of gardening tools for your child and yourself
The Best Plants To Grow For Beginners

If you're intimidated by the thought of gardening, these beginner-friendly plants are an excellent place to start!

  • Peppers
  • Summer Squash
  • Radishes
  • Tomatoes
  • Green Beans
  • Strawberries
  • Potatoes
  • Spinach
  • Basil
  • Blackberries
  • Lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Cucumbers
  • Turnips
  • Swiss Chard
  • Blueberries

Gardening with your kids is a wonderful activity with many benefits and helps inspire a love of nature. So why not grab a shovel, roll up your sleeves, and get dirty in the garden?