subject: How To Involve The Children In Gardening by:Kathy Marshall [print this page] With the days getting longer, you may well feel the urge to go gardening. Certainly, it is a great option to pass the time engaging oneself in some sort of creativity. But sometimes, you miss someone there. Yes, it is your little kids who are often deprived of the joy of gardening.
In fact, they generally find it fascinating. So, if they can be involved in it, it will be a great joy for them. And it is possible with a little bit of planning. Gardens have thousands of things that can naturally hold the children's attention. Often the children have the tendency to play with the odd things. So, a small tomato, or a big sunflower can be a big source of fun for him or her. Gardening for children will offer them thousands of colors and shapes to play with. Apart from the fruits and flowers, there are plants that can amaze the children with there textures. The petals of the strawflowers can fascinate a child with it amazing array.
Another big, and perhaps the biggest, advantage of garden is its scent. It is proved that scent is the closest thing to memory. So, when a child enjoys in the garden, he or she will certainly come back there in the coming years for more. To intensify this strong bond within the children's gardening, fragrant herbs and flowers are the obvious answers. This will give them such a charm that will last for the lifetime. So planting marjoram, roses, lavender, lilacs etc will create a strong bond.
The presence of hummingbirds and butterflies will add extra charm to the garden. Dill, thistles or milkweed will attract the butterflies, while the hummingbirds love to visit gardens that have morning glories, bleeding hearts and petunias. Other plants like the moonflowers, four o'clocks and evening primrose are good to add beauty to the garden and engage the children in it.
However, the joy of gardening with children increases if they have the opportunity to pick. So, it is good to have coleus, cosmos, salvia and snapdragon as they produce plenty of flowers. They can be planted in a certain area where the kids can be allowed to pick them whenever they like. Some of the specimens can also be taken to the dinner table as well.
Apart from entertainment, garden also has an educative value. One can teach a child about how to cultivate the food of one's own. Short and easy projects like the no dig garden, can also be launched to involve the children. Visit www.danthegardener.co.uk to have a look at their Gardening and Environmental website for kids.
About the author
Kathy Marshall is author of this article on Childrens Gardening.
