Collaborative post by another author. Gardening is one of the most fun and relaxing things to do. Taking care of plants and seeing good results for your efforts can make you feel pretty proud. But what if you tried gardening along with your kids? Although it sounds chaotic for you, as a parent, since they can make a mess and hurt themselves if you’re not paying attention, gardening can be quite fun if you teach them young. 

Besides the advantages we’ll discuss further on, gardening together can also help bond at a deeper level. If you can make it enjoyable, your kids will have a beautiful garden of their own one day. Therefore, let’s see how gardening can help your family flourish. 

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It allows for sensory exploration 

Kids are exploring the world through touching, tasting and looking. From their younger years, when they’re not able to express themselves through words, they show their curiosity through sensory exploration. This builds nerve connections in the brain and encourages your kids to develop their language and motor skills.

So, if you want to work on that, you can simply start by allowing them to touch your plants. Let them sit on the ground for a little bit, feel the grass, and the leaves on the trees and explore and taste any vegetables you have around. In time, as they grow, you can let them help you, but you need to take it easy and offer them the freedom to explore on their own. 

It helps them develop many skills 

Skills are not something you’re born with, so you can’t expect your kid to have all the same traits as you. Therefore, you need to nurture them and let your child develop what they’re best at. Gardening can cultivate healthy skill development, and your child may learn to be more:

• Reliable and responsible. Watering or learning about what a plants needs can teach them the importance of carefulness;
• Confidence. By taking care of a fruit tree or a flower, they’ll be able to see the results of their own work and feel confident in their powers;
• Creative. Gardening also encourages creativity and ingenuity (you can encourage them to paint pots or decorate the garden);
• Curious. This is a special trait that will help them learn more in the future and cultivate their love for knowledge;
• Optimistic. Kids learn that plants can be saved and beautifully grown if they know how to take care of them.

The skills above are among those that will help your kids build successful careers. The list also includes integrity, empathy and perseverance, which you can integrate into your gardening projects. However, you can nurture these skills in many other activity or games that you usually play.

It reduces stress

Gardening can be a stress reliever for adults too, but stressed kids are less able to deal with their feelings and emotions, which can result in emotional outbursts, acting out and increased defiance. In the long run, it can be harmful to them, especially if you can’t seem to find the cause. Managing their stress and coping with it yourself can be challenging, which is why we recommend gardening, even if your space is limited. 

You could start by getting some balcony planters and letting your kids personalise them. It’s best to place them somewhere easy to see, just like you do with photographs on the fridge. Encouraging and recognising their efforts in caring for something might help them deal with their stress better and know what to do when they feel overwhelmed. 

It helps develop a love of nature 

Going out has plenty of benefits, from boosting your immune system to improving mental health. However, going out and spending at least two hours per week can:

• Lower the risk of respiratory problems;
• Improve sleep;
• Reduce depression symptoms;
• Protect the eyes from short-sightedness;
• Benefit emotional well-being;

If you’re lucky enough to live next to a forest or natural parks, it would be best to get outside every day, or at least allow them to play more next to nature. Still, if you want to have an eye on them, provide them with outdoor planters with which they can be creative and still have a small responsibility. 

Another reason why gardening can be so important for kids to learn has to do with the environment. Given the current state of our planet, future generations might have to struggle with slowing down climate change repercussions. However, if they know how to preserve nature and take care of it while being aware of their impact on the environment it can help them live in a healthier climate with cleaner air and water. 

It helps you bond 

These days, parents can struggle to spend quality time with their kids as they have busy lives and work.  This can leas to dependency issues or no longer being able to relate to each other. With time, these things grow bigger, and members become distant. So parents should try to come up with fun activities that can bring the whole family together. 

Gardening can take up a lot of time if you have a big garden and many plants to take care of. Still, if you involve your children in such activities, you’ll have the time to learn more about each other and bond. However, there are other ways for you to get close to your kids:

• Eat together at whatever time of the day is convenient for everyone;
• Do more housework together (making the beds, putting clothes away or sweeping around the house)
• Have regular family meetings where you discuss important things, but make sure they are fun to participate in;

Final thoughts 

Having a family can be a beautiful thing, but they can often have lots of friction, fighting or distance. Close relationships don't happen without effort, and you, as a parent, need to nurture the bond between you and your children. Therefore, along with other fun activities, you could do some gardening together as it can help develop your relationship as well as their skills and helps them prepare for adulthood.