The Benefits of Teaching Children How to Garden

Anything that you can do to make learning more fun for your children is worth doing! As a parent there are so many things to teach your children about that any activity that can get them to learn is an opportunity worth availing yourself of.

Do you have a child that does not like to eat vegetables? Maybe if they help you grow those vegetables they will want to eat them. They can take pride in being involved in growing the vegetables in greenhouse kits or whether they are beans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, or others. After they watch the plants grow, then they may just get curious enough to eat what they have grown.

You can make a big deal of the harvest and make a special meal. Ask the children how they want the vegetable cooked. Even if their ideas are strange fix the vegetables that way. Anything to get them to eat them. Drown them with cheese, put them in a hot dog casserole if need be or maybe a veggie pizza! If it gets your children interested in eating vegetables isn't it worth a trying a strange recipe they suggest?

You can also teach them the science of how plants grow. Show them that by using the soil and nutrients that the seeds will sprout and grow into the beans or other types of vegetables you've planted. It fascinates adults to watch plants grow and kids get even more excited about it. As the vegetables grow, you can explain the various stages of growth and watch together as the vegetables ripen until ready to be picked.

Tell your children how to tell when each vegetable is ready to be harvested. Cucumbers can be picked to allow more to grow as they ripen and are fairly easy to grow. This shows kids that food comes from other places besides the grocery store. Also you can explain the nutritional value of these foods if your child is old enough to understand. They can learn which foods provide them with which vitamins. Then you can teach them how each vitamin helps their bodies grow and be healthy.

Gardening is a great family activity. Dad can dig up the soil and get it ready for planting, then mom and the kids can plant the seeds. Let the kids decide which vegetables are grown though; this way they are more interested in the outcome. Then the whole family can weed, water and harvest the garden together. This can be a great memory that will last a lifetime.

Then when you harvest your vegetables, have your kids help you give some of them to a family in need. This could be an exercise to build character and teach them that it is good to help the less fortunate. So see what you can teach your children through gardening, from nutrition to family bonding - all of these sorts of lessons can be taught through gardening! You can also teach them how to help others by giving much needed to food to people that need help. All of these are benefits you and your children can enjoy when you teach your kids how to garden.

Whitney Segura is one of the founders of one of the largest manufacturers and retailers of many hydroponics growing systems