Gardening is a great activity for adults and kids of all ages. And in today’s ever-changing world, there’s a need for parents to try to engage their kids in more outdoor activities.
These are activities that help to promote good working ethics, playfulness, and healthy living.
Getting them involved in gardening is one way to go about it. It’s an activity that comes with many perks, making it worth the time and effort that goes into it.
However, the main question remains: how do you get them to love flowers and gardening?
1. Get them a Personalised Garden Theme Blanket with Their Name on It
The custom baby blankets with names have several uses. You can use them to lay the baby on unfamiliar surfaces, on the floor, or to provide a buffer between the child and the outer world. You can also use it to catch up with spit and drool, swaddle, or any other use that may come to mind. While the above uses mainly apply to newborns and smaller babies, it’s possible to use personalised baby name blankets to introduce them to flowers and gardening. The gardening theme will help to arouse their curiosity. The kids will want to know what the plants and flowers embroidered on the blanket mean, where they come from, and their main uses. Printing their name on the blanket acts as a plus and can help them get more excited about the prospect of getting to grow something.
2. Get them Their Own Supplies
Your kids will love having their own set of gardening equipment. They will love these tools even more if they can fit perfectly in their tiny hands. Personalising the supplies will make it easier to get them interested in the entire activity.
Allow the kids to pick out the tools they want or gift them gardening tools for birthdays and other special occasions. Go with whichever option you feel will bring about the most excitement.
When choosing the tools, consider all their different aspects: from their practicality to their colours/designs. The gardening set should comprise tools such as a hoe, shovel, hand rake, and trowel. Don’t forget to include a sprinkler or watering can.
3. Give them a Spot on the Garden to Tendon Their Own
If you already have a garden in your backyard, select a sunny untended corner, and allow them to care for it. All hope is not lost for those gardening on containers or raised beds as you can always give them a container to tend.
In case you are just getting started and would love the idea of experimenting with your kids, you could opt to experiment with inexpensive terra cotta pots or old kiddie pools. It’s an excellent way for both of you to get started on the amazing gardening journey.
4. Grow Interesting Crops
Kids will become more involved in flowers and gardening if the crops they want to grow are interesting. Consider growing crops such as strawberries, tomatoes, pumpkins, and sunflowers. These crops are interesting as the kids can see them and easily pick them.
Additionally, these crops will help to add colour to your backyard garden. Other viable choices include melons and berries. The fruits mentioned here also make good choices because they can be eaten raw, cooked, or included as a snack or part of a bigger meal.
Try to grow garden plants with various sensory and textural qualities to help boost the five senses. For example:
- For touch, go for aloe vera, lamb’s ear, or snapdragon.
- For taste, consider cherry tomatoes, basil, and carrots.
- For smell, look into plants such as sweet peas, jasmine, and lavender.
- For sound, consider corn, different grasses, and bamboo.
- For vision, go for bright coloured vegetables such as sunflowers and rainbow chard.
5. Let them Get Dirty and Ensure You Don’t Freak Out When They Do
Gardening will get the kids dirty. You can’t avoid this, especially if you would like them to become interested in it. Allow them to explore mother nature! As you garden, allow them to pick at leaves and rocks to look underneath them and explore their surroundings.
Transform the gardening exercise into a learning session where you teach them about the different bugs present in the garden. Point out harmless bugs and those that can cause bodily harm or become a nuisance if bothered.
Assure your kids that bees will generally remain harmless if they are not swatted.
6. Let Them Choose the Plants They Want to Grow in Their Gardens
Allowing them to choose the plants they would like to grow offers you an opportunity to teach them about the needs of the various plants they encounter every day. Get them started by recommending popular choices such as sunflowers, carrots, potatoes, and pumpkins.
Kids will become more enthusiastic and committed to the exercise if they can grow plants that they already recognize. Take this gardening experiment a notch higher by getting your non-veggie-eating child interested in how they are grown and picked.
Most kids will easily fall in love with plants or veggies that they have grown on their own.
7. Make Garden Maintenance an Inclusive Social Activity
After planting the seeds and allowing them to sprout, a time will come when the gardens will need to be maintained. Please don’t fall into the trap of making the activity a drudgery exercise, as this may cause them to reverse their earlier enthusiasm.
Always offer to work alongside them, or even have them invite their friends whenever they need to weed or water the plants. Include activities such as playing, talking, and singing to the maintenance work to help pass the time.
Refrain from presenting garden maintenance as a chore! Additionally, don’t expect your kids to spend countless hours outside maintaining the garden beds on their own on a simmering summer day.
