Taking children to engage in outdoor activities has various benefits for their development. One activity you can do together with your little one is gardening. What should be considered when introducing gardening to children? Check out the following tips:

Benefits of gardening with children

Gardening is a fun activity that offers numerous health benefits. This activity isn't just about aiding plants to grow better; because it takes place outdoors, gardening also allows you to become healthier by being exposed to sufficient sunlight.

Though commonly associated with adult activities, gardening can also be enjoyed by children. For children, gardening isn't only for health but also for their physical and psychological development.

Some benefits of gardening for children include:

• Teach responsibility

Children can learn how to care for plants and what needs to be done for plants to grow healthily.

• Gain knowledge

By gardening, children will learn many things about plant science, weather, and the environment. Gardening can also help sharpen children's reasoning.

• Cultivate love for nature

Gardening gives children the opportunity to learn about the outside environment in a safe and fun place.

• Increase physical activity

Gardening is one of the most enjoyable physical activities.

• Teach cooperation

Gardening can be packaged into a group activity either with parents or friends, which can train children to be active and work together in teams.

• Educate children to recognize the process

Gardening teaches children the importance of going through a process. By gardening, children will learn that achieving the desired results requires a long process and hard work.

• Enhance self-confidence

Seeing the plants grow well and then picking the results can train children's confidence and create a sense of pride.

Tips to encourage children to garden

Parents can introduce gardening activities to children from an early age until they reach adolescence. For parents who want to introduce gardening activities to their children, you can introduce gardening activities according to their age. Parents can start gardening with simple activities such as picking fruits with their children. Then, as the child grows older, you can teach them how to plant seeds or seedlings.

Here are some tips for gardening with children:

Give children their own garden space

When gardening, give your child an area or space to do their gardening. This space can be a small plot or some pots and polybags to grow various plants. You can also let your child choose which plants to plant. This way, children will be trained to have a sense of responsibility for their plants.

Get the child involved in all activities

Gardening is not just about planting plants or picking the produce. You can invite children to practice loosening the soil, planting seeds, watering, sowing leaves, and cleaning and tidying up the tools used for gardening. In addition to practicing children's skills, this can also train patience and responsibility in children.

Use safe gardening tools

When gardening, use gardening tools that are safe for children to use. If using dangerous gardening tools, do not leave children unattended.

Gardening is a fun activity for children as well as adults. Training children to garden from a young age can also help with psychological development as well as train discipline and responsibility in children.

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