These days, sitting behind the TV or computer screen, playing video games and watching movies is the order of the day for kids. Encouraging them to keep in touch with nature is a good idea. When they get their hands dirty, there are valuable life skills, you as a parent can teach them. Gardening is not just a means to produce foods. It can create a bonding time between parents and kids. It can be the ideal time to broaden their knowledge of science and the origin of food.
Some valuable life lessons your kids will learn from gardening are:
1. Responsibility
When you teach your kids to be responsible, it prepares them for all that life has to offer. With gardening, you can teach young ones the importance of responsibilities. They get to accept a task or project and see it to fruition. They not only take pride in their accomplishment, but they also grow up to become responsible adults.
2. Creativity
Gardening can also help bring out the genius in your kid. They get to exercise their creativity and do something new. Whatever their task in the garden – selecting plant, staking, watering, planting or learning as plants grow, the garden provides the perfect spot to build and develop.
3. Health and Fitness
Doing something fun like gardening in the outdoor is plain fun and exciting. Hence, you need to encourage your kids to get their hands dirty. The bending, carrying, walking up and down are all forms of exercise. With this, they get to grow healthy while developing their physical and sensory faculties.
4. Nutrition
Eating healthy, food that you grow yourself, is way more nutritious than buying it from the grocery store. With locally produced foods, you enjoy all the vitamins and other essential nutrients in the produce. Hence, you enjoy a healthy and balanced meal. Growing your vegetables is better than depending on processed foods that are laden with chemicals and already lost nutrients. Home-grown sorts of foods are healthy for kids. They will even learn to make much wiser food choices in the future.
5. A Perfect Opportunity to Discover
The garden is like an outdoor classroom where your kids can learn practical and real-life lessons. In here, you can teach your kids about nature, nutrition, weather, the importance of water and sun to plants, etc. Many kids also believe the grocery store is the source of food. A garden is a perfect spot to change this misconception.
Imagine how better off your kids will be if they spend time in the garden. Plant a yard today and instill valuable life lessons in your kids.
