My youngest is completely and utterly influenced by You Tube, mummy is obviously not as good an influencer as she’d like to think she is! Although I get wound up when I see him glued to the screen, interesting happenings occur after. He is crazy about the science experiments he witnesses and tries to imitate the ones he likes. He babbles on about the cool inventions he thinks will work and tries to carry them out by himself. The latest, was his desire to go to the gardening store and get all things related to planting. Thank you You Tubers for activating imagination and creativity into my son!
Let me tell you about his latest interest – gardening. Along we went to the garden centre last week. I loved that he wanted to get his hands dirty to be honest. He chose his pots, soil, the spade and his chosen herbs to plant. He said he would buy colourful flowers next round.
Interest in planting and potting has amazing benefits. We all know that planting flowers can be therapeutic (even if you are like me and don’t have the green fingers required) But did you know that gardening has amazing developmental benefits for children?
Engages All the Senses
Children learn best when engaging all their senses. With gardening, they can touch and feel the dirt, seeds and flowers, see the vibrant colours and varied sizes of the plants and smell the amazing scents of the flowers. Allowing all the senses to be involved helps children understand and grasp the concept of gardening along with all the math and scientific concepts that go along with it.
Encourages Healthy Eating
Eating healthy food is vital for brain and body development but it can be hard at times to get our children to eat those fruits and veggies. By having them grow their own string beans, carrots and lettuce, they will have a sense of pride in eating what they have “created.” (Although we haven’t got there yet, Alexis’ herb pots are the first step to making him eat those little green bits he spots in his food with disgust and frustration.) This, in turn, will emphasize the importance of healthy eating and hopefully make them learn to love eating anything green.
Enhances Fine Motor Development
Scooping up the dirt, placing the seeds or plants in the pots and pouring the water all take fine motor control and strength. They develop important motor skills that will help them improve their academic skills such as writing, cutting and typing.
Introduces Kids to Scientific Concepts
Gardening is a wonderful introduction into the world of science especially botany, biology and chemistry. When children plant their first seeds they become curious about what will happen next. They make their own hypothesis and monitor the progress each day. Without even realizing it, children learn the basic steps of the scientific process. As they get older, they learn about the impact of sunlight and water on the growth of a plant. They learn which plants need more sunlight, which need less water and how long they take to grow. Gardening offers wonderful science lessons right at home!
Fosters Family Bonding
Going to the garden centre as a family and deciding what Alexis should plant was team work last Sunday. This shows what a wonderful bonding effect gardening can have. Children and parents can work together to decide what flowers and vegetables to plant and where to plant them.
Teaches Responsibility
Gardening is a great way to teach children about responsibility. Children learn that they have to take care of their seeds or plants each day in order for them to become healthy plants.
Highlights the Importance of Taking Care of the Environment
When children garden, they realize how important it is to take care of the Earth if they want their garden to grow and produce healthy plants. It creates the perfect opportunity for us to talk to our children about concepts such as pollution, pesticides and recycling.
Develops Math Skills
There are so many teachable math moments when gardening from measuring the soil depth to counting the seeds. You can also embed math lessons into the gardening experience. For example, your child can measure the growth of the plant and then create a graph. They can also measure and compare the sizes of the vegetables as well the number of petals on the flowers. Another fun lesson is to identify all the different shapes that can be found in the garden. This is a great introduction to Geometry.
Teaches Patience
As I’ve begun the gardening process with my children, it has become abundantly clear how important it is to have patience. Children are used to immediate gratification; however, gardening is often a slow process. Children have to learn to be patient when waiting for their flowers and vegetables to grow. The waiting actually makes the moment the flower or vegetable sprouts even more exciting!
Even if You Tube initially promoted it for Alexis, I am 100% on board to see his new interest through and I am enjoying it just as much as he is.
