Spring has sprung! Time to dust off your trowels, rakes, and hoes to prep your garden.
This year, why not get the kids involved?
Alli Rogers, education director of The Rye Nature Center, said gardening with kids has many benefits.
“Studies have shown that gardening is good for kids’ social, physical, and emotional well-being,” she said. “They’re able to problem-solve and ask critical questions. They learn words that they wouldn’t hear elsewhere. It even improves gross motor development as they navigate on uneven terrain.”
Gardening also helps reduce stress. As Lucy Berkoff, chief gardening officer for Rye Town Park, said, “It gives free therapy that anyone with a small packet of seeds can access. In this world that is so virtual, gardening is a very protected space that is not.”
The sooner you can get kids involved in your garden, the better.
“Children are eager to participate at an extremely young age, as soon as they can walk,” said Berkoff, who also runs a landscape design business, Lucy’s Garden Life. “It’s an easy, fun, creative way for a family to spend time together. It’s zero pressure and so excitingly messy and creative for kids. People that grow up gardening in even the simplest ways get a different perspective on the Earth.”
One way to get kids excited is to read books together on the topic, said Emma Jackson, environmental educator at the nature center.
“Getting them involved beforehand by reading different books that talk about planting helps build excitement and anticipation,” she said.
To help your kids reap the benefits of gardening, try some of these ideas:
Plant fast-growing veggies
Peas, beans, carrots, and radishes can be started right after the last frost; sooner if left indoors in pots or jars. Or you can plant wheat grass in a tray. These are known to sprout quickly so your child will get faster results. An added plus: Pack the ripe veggies in your child’s lunchbox so they can enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Design a garden patch
Designate a little area around the yard as your child’s patch. Then take them shopping for early spring flowers such as pansies, violas, or mini daffodils. Allow them to map out what will go where.
“Children love to get to choose the plant that they want,” Berkoff said. “Giving them the option of creating the design is like drawing a picture in the garden. Once you start giving a child planting material, you really can’t give them enough. You will see they are just so hungry to plant!”
When you let them have a stake in the decision-making, they take pride in the outcome.
“Adults tend to want the garden to look more manicured, but it’s nice to step back and let the kids have agency,” said Madison Rosenbaum, environmental educator at the nature center. “Maybe we wouldn’t have put these two colors next to each other, but let them run with that creativity.”
Build a bug hotel
Insects are essential for plant growth. Attract pollinators by building a small box with mesh at either end. Fill it with dead leaves, clippings, and other debris. As bugs move in, you can show your kids how insects break those things down into rich mulch to be used later in the garden.
Create a butterfly garden
In a sunny spot, plant host plants (leafy plants where butterflies can lay their eggs and very hungry caterpillars can eat) and nectar flowers that feed adult butterflies. Where you can, plant native plants. Find flat rocks where butterflies can dry their wings and leave a shallow pool of water for them to drink.
Start a nature journal. Your older kids can keep notes on their plants – noting growth, whether the flowers have gone to seed, color changes – and what insects they have identified.
For more ideas, check out Children and Nature Network’s Gardening with Children Toolkit at childrenandnature.org.
