Getting your child interested in gardening

Not all people are born with green fingers (I am one of those), but my grandmother was a formidable woman with a heart of gold and bright green fingers.

                                           

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Unfortunately this did not rub off on me or my mother, but I have wonderful fond memories of spending time with my grandmother in her garden - I usually was given the job of watering the plants, but just to spend time with her and watch her lovingly tend to the plants made it a worthwhile experience and I also learned a lot from her and it was bonding time well spend.

I am still no gardener but I appreciate and love nature and the outdoors because of time I learned to spend outside when I was a little girl.

Maybe your child do not like gardening, but there are ways to make it fun and who knows, they will maybe turn into a great gardener one day, and if they do not, it is also fine, it will at least get them outside, spark their senses, give you time to bond and teach them to appreciate nature.

Firing up the senses

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Gardening can be a wonderful time for your little one to experience using their senses - they will see the beauty of nature, they will smell the wet ground and the flowers, they will feel different textures.  

Do not worry if your child gets dirty, most children are at their happiest when they are dirty.  Let them be, and try and be patient when those little hand want to help with planting a new plant, raking the leaves or even if they get wet from head to toe and the plants are still a little dry.

This all is a learning curve and will help your child in experiencing new sensations.  Children are naturally curious so give them the opportunity to smell and feel and experience the wonder of different plants.

Let them make a decision

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If you go to the nursery to buy some new plants, let your child be involved in choosing one plant that they like and would like to see in the garden or in a pot.

This will give them a sense of ownership if they have a plant that belongs to them and it will give them a feeling of obligation and that they have the responsibility to look after something.

We need the right tools

                

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There is a lot of garden tools on the market that is made for little hands.  If a child has their own tools which is easy for them to use, they will not loose interest if they have to struggle to pick up and use the "adult" tools.

Get them involved from beginning to end - even the messy parts

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Do not restrict your child to only the things that you think they will be able to handle - show them how something is done and give them a chance to try it.  If they make a mess, do not stress, it is not something that cannot be cleaned.  If you restrict them to only certain tasks or moan about the way they do something, they will loose interest.  So put on a brave face and face the mess.

This is not the time to be a perfectionist and even if some seeds do not germinate or a leave or two gets broken off in the process that is fine.  

Use it as bonding time

                  

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Talk to your child and tell them about the specific plant or how long the seeds will take to germinate, why you use certain soil and how you will look after the plant.  This is not only a time for learning but also a time in which you and your little one can bond and have some fun together and you can talk about a lot more than plants.

So encourage your child to come outside with you, enjoy the sunlight and before you know it you will have a little blooming gardener.