Gardening offers so many opportunities for young children, whether they have a large open space to explore, or a few containers on a patio, the benefits are plentiful.
1) Gardening is a multi-sensory activity
2) It's a pleasurable experience that can create memories that last a lifetime.
3) Children can choose what they wish to grow. Minnie loves beans & peas, so has decided to grow these again this year.
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| Everything tastes so much better straight from the garden! |
4) It offers an opportunity to ponder, wonder & appreciate the beauty of nature
5) It offers seamless links to maths, science, language & literacy, art & creativity, knowledge & understanding of the world, & so much more
6) It can encourage an interest & enthusiasm for nature & our living planet.
7) It offers a chance to discover & explore minibeasts, insects & their habitats.
8) Gardening enables children to understand that their actions have an impact.
9) There are endless opportunities to learn about the weather & it's effects on plants & insects.
10) It provides a hands on opportunity to explore the life cycle of plants. How great that in Spring you can plant a sunflower seed, collect seeds from the plant in Autumn, & grow again next Spring!
11) Gardening is an inclusive activity, any age or ability can take part.
12) It encourages fine & gross motor skills.
13) Gardening offers great opportunities for interaction between young & old, parent & child, & between peers.
14) Gardening can build self-esteem, offering a sense of achievement & satisfaction.
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| Minnie proudly kissing her homegrown beans! |
15) It offers children a chance to actively explore what makes plants grow (heat, light, water, soil etc)
16) Growing a plant enables children to care for & nurture something living.
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| Preparing the onions before planting |
17) It provides an opportunity to explore the seasons & why some plants only grow at certain times of the year.
18) It encourages children to think about where their food comes from.
19) It can encourage children to recycle & reuse (e.g. creating recycled planters, using rainwater, making homemade compost, etc)
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| Our recycled planters |
20) Homegrown food is organic, cheap to grow, & always tastes so much better! :)
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| Sweet strawberries grown by Minnie |
And of course gardening is fun too!
You might also like to see 'Gardening in Small Spaces'
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We Play at Childhood101
It's Playtime
High Paw at Best Toys for Toddlers
Sun Scholars
NurtureStore
My Delicious Ambiguity
Shared with
We Play at Childhood101
It's Playtime
High Paw at Best Toys for Toddlers
Sun Scholars
NurtureStore
My Delicious Ambiguity
excellent post. makes me that much more excited to get the plants in the ground today!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous list! and I couldn't agree more. We are hoping to grow more than the usual tomatoes this year!
ReplyDeleteI agree! My boys love our garden!
ReplyDeleteAmen to that! I am a big gardening fan, making the best of the little space we have in our condo yard. It's so fun to pass this love on to our children.
ReplyDeleteOH my gosh. I want to kiss sweet Minnie's face. I love this post, Catherine!! You have hit on every positive about gardening, and I love it. Thank you for linking back over at teachmama.com--cheers!
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