Gardening is a fun and rewarding hobby for everyone and is something that is super accessible for individuals with all levels of ability. Not only is it an accessible hobby that people of all ages and abilities can enjoy, it’s also good for physical and mental health, and is a great opportunity to learn about the natural world.
With all that being said, gardening is especially good for kids because it meets a lot of their needs in terms of learning, experiencing new things and having fun. It is an extremely engaging hobby for children and many of them find it enriching and a great way to spend quality time with family.
If you have a garden and you have young kids, consider making the garden a place where they can get involved with the tasks associated with looking after plants and maintaining a garden. Of course, you will need to make sure that any gardening activities you engage in with the kids will need to be age appropriate.
You need to take the kids’ ages into consideration because gardening can be a potentially dangerous hobby. Children can be injured by sharp implements, or may even be tempted to taste the plants. Make sure they are supervised at all times when in the garden, and handle any risk tasks yourself, such as trimming, pruning and applying fertilisers.
You will need to make sure that your kids understand that they need to keep their hands out of their mouths and should never put anything in their mouth that they find in the garden, unless you have given them permission. They need to have a level of understanding of how to stay safe when gardening, and will enjoy taking on the responsibility.
The garden presents a whole world of opportunities for fun. Kids love to get involved and can learn a lot. Not every kid will enjoy getting their hands dirty while others will love it, so you can easily tailor activities to your child’s preferences. If you want to improve your garden before making it a child-friendly space then you may be able to do the bulk of the work yourself if you have the time and inclination, or you can search online using a phrase like garden designers near me to find local landscapers who will be able to redesign your garden to make it more suitable to your preferences.
One of the simplest activities you can do with the kids in the garden is planting some seeds. Kids will have a great time preparing small pots by filling them with soil and making their own labels. Give them the chance to choose their own seeds so they can grow something they like to look at. You will be able to teach kids about the life cycles of plants and how they grow as the seedlings emerge. This is something that most kids love waiting for and will be thrilled to see the seeds they planted come to life.
A fun and educational activity you can enjoy with the kids is to find and identify creatures that live in the garden. You can find educational worksheets online that can be printed off to help them identify insects, birds and more. You could also buy an illustrated book on wildlife in the UK and have fun trying to spot the animals from within the pages. Kids love to learn about all the different creatures found in the garden and it can foster a lifelong interest in the natural world.
Creating a sensory garden or an edible garden is something that will give you and your family hours of enjoyment, and will last as long as you plan to maintain it. Sensory gardens are great for all kids, though they are especially good for kids with learning or sensory disabilities.
They can be safe havens for kids whether they have additional needs or not, and will be a wonderful way to spend some quality time with your little ones. Just be sure that none of the plants you include in a sensory garden are toxic, and that the kids are not allergic to any of the plants in a sensory or edible garden.