Gardening is a fun and easy way to engage children in outdoor play. It has the potential to go in several directions, depending on what interests the children. Some may find worms and grubs in the dirt that we are tilling and decide they want to search for insects. Others might make a connection between the sand area and the dirt and decide to build a dirt castle. Many children have noticed that seeds break apart and started investigating what happens when they do or may enjoy working to dig a hole, drop a seed in, cover it up and water it, over and over until the garden is growing.
While the weather outside is still a little unpredictable and not suited for plants in this moment, starting seeds inside now to plant later would be a great way to introduce gardening. The germination period for a plant is typically 6-8 weeks before being planted in the soil outside.
Surprisingly the Dollar Tree and Dollar General has everything you would need to start your own plants for relatively cheap. It is rewarding to see a seed you started inside the house to then grow to full bloom when planted outdoors in spring. When we are gardening, you can see that LOTS of learning is happening!
Here are some things that children are learning when gardening:
Responsibility – caring for plants (making sure they get enough water and making sure other children are taking care of them too.)
Understanding – as they learn cause and effect (for example: plants die without water)
Self-Confidence – achieving their goals of plants growing and enjoying the food they’ve
grown.
Love of Nature – learning and exploring in an outdoor environment.
Reasoning and Discovery – learning about science of plants, animals, weather, the environment, nutrition, and simple construction.
Physical Activity – doing something fun and productive, such as tilling the dirt in the garden.
Cooperation – working as a team, with other children to help take care of the garden areas.
Creativity – finding new and exciting ways to grow food.
Nutrition – learning about where fresh food comes from.
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