Kids as Gardening Helpers
I think I may have been about three years old when I first started helping my mom in the yard. She didn’t have me do anything that could cause any damage or harm to me or the garden, but just little things that made me her little garden helper. But my work with my mom goes to show that any kid can be a garden helper, regardless of age.
Now when I say any age, I would suggest waiting until the child can follow directions and feel like they can contribute to the care of the garden. But it doesn’t just have to be a helper in the garden. I also used to help my dad with the lawn. After he would go around with the lawn mower, I was his rake girl. I would rake up the clippings and put them in lawn bags. It was a small task, but I felt that I was helping make the lawn look nice and neat.
Another way that kids can be involved with gardening is indoor gardening. A great way to learn about caring for plants and flowers is by growing something of their own. A small indoor box garden is a great way to give kids the responsibility to care for a plant or flower. Starting with planting seeds in a container to watering it to making sure it looks healthy can get kids interested in gardening.
Additionally, I’ve got my kids involved by putting them in charge of recycling around the house. They separate the items that can be recycled from the regular trash and make sure they go into the recycling bins. I have also put my kids in charge of looking for items that can go into our compost pile. These are all relatively small tasks but are great educational opportunities to teach children about horticulture.
We did find a few interested web pages that deal with kids and gardening. Take a look and see if some of the ideas can be used with your children around the home.