Gardening with Children
Gardening with Children
Gardening with children can be so enjoyable! First of all, I love working in the garden with or without children. Something about being out in the sunshine, working hard, being dirty and eventually seeing the fruit of your labors is so satisfying. Even though it’s usually hot, laborious work, it’s so rewarding in many ways. This farm family generally does most of our work together so it’s enjoyable to work side by side. Now, before you go thinking our kids love to work in the garden all the time, I must clarify that often times we’re dragging them to the garden with us. However, once they’re over the “it’s hot, I don’t want to do this” line, they’re fine.
This year, the children helped us plant all of the garden. In years past, we did most of the work and they played in the garden making paths in the dirt, land mines, fox holes for pretend wars or just digging holes. Now mind you, there’s still time and place for that, but it was enjoyable for me to see them working hard next to us doing the planting. Not because I’m a “slave driver” of a parent but because each child would see their progress as they finished a row and you could hear their exclamations of satisfaction. That may seem like nothing, but it’s a big reward in my mind to feel the satisfaction of a job well down and to be able to look back and see that your hard labor accomplished something worth-while.
Tips for gardening with children:
Be prepared to not have an absolutely perfect garden. Some spots will have several seeds in them (instead of the usual 1). Some rows may not be perfectly straight. Some plants may be too close together. This is all part of including the children. It’s a small sacrifice for the reward of having them help provide food for the table (and it really doesn’t matter in the long run).
Warning! Toddlers can be very dangerous for the garden. Some baby plants may be crushed under the little chubby feet of said toddler. Seeds may be scattered where they do not go. Dirt may go in Toddler’s mouth. Clothes will get dirty and dirt will be everywhere. That’s part of the fun of it! Loosen up and let them enjoy it.
As you work, instruct the children on what you’re doing and what you’re growing. When the food starts coming in, I always announce if it came from our own garden that they helped plant. It gives them a sense of satisfaction that they participated and can help provide for the family’s needs too.
We often sing while we work. Sometimes we make up songs, sometimes we sing songs we already know. It makes the work go faster and the complaining a little less.
Many times we race or make a game out of the work. Of course, they love that!
We give little “breaks” after certain goals are reached. For example, we stop and have a popsicle after so many rows are done, or a sit in the shade for a few minutes. Our children like to run up and down the garden rows barefooted, so they’ll do that for a break, sometimes.
I call the garden one of our “outside science laboratories”. There is so much to see and learn, the possibilities are endless. We talk about plants and how they grow from seeds. We find creatures and talk about their anatomy or their purpose or place in the food chain. Farm Son loves to find toads and scare his sisters with them!
We also keep a worm bucket going. The children call it a “wormery”. So as we’re working and find worms, we collect them for fishing, feeding animals the children have caught for their museum (more on that another time), or to just add to our compost pile.
The ideas are endless and these are just a few. The main thing is to take the work and enjoy it. If the parents have a good attitude, the children will too (even if it takes some prodding…or a lot of prodding). Let’s have fun! Let’s get dirty! Let’s plant a garden!
We would love to hear about your garden. What are some of your gardening experiences with children?
