April 13, 2010

Involve Your Kids in Gardening

Now that spring has arrived your thoughts may have turned to cleaning up the yard and doing some gardening. What a perfect opportunity to involve your kids in something that gets them away from the TV and video games and provides them with some fresh air and exercise.

Take them along to the nursery to select plants and flowers. Kids are much more likely to help when they have some input .

Give them a small shovel and have them ready the flower beds. I've never met a kid who didn't love to dig in the dirt! Stake off a section for your child to have his or her own little garden.

Teach them how to properly water and weed. A small child will probably have a difficult time distinguishing between a weed and an expensive perennial.

Take photos of the garden at the beginning stages and along the way so your child can observe the progress. Come wintertime your kids can help plan what you'll plant in next years garden.

When the planting is done and they're covered head to toe in dirt get out the garden hose and let them spray each other down.

Including your kids in the planning of the projects as well as the actual work will give them the opportunity to learn the satisfaction that comes from a job well done and you'll see their self-esteem blossom along with the flowers.

No comments: