Kids tend to moan and groan at the request that they go outside and do yard work, as if it is a chore. This need not be the case. A child should want to be outside playing and getting dirty. Instilling a love and appreciation of nature and gardening should start early and it should be fun. Children’s attitudes shouldn’t be one of dragging their feet out the door and away from the television, rather, children should be enthusiastic to work with the soil and be out in the sunshine. Oftentimes children that see their parents gardening will want to join in the activity by observing and learning through example. Adults should try to make those first gardening experiences exciting and successful to encourage kids to continue with this newfound hobby. Give kids ownership of an area in your garden. Children need unmediated contact with the outside world and parents need to not micro-manage or hover over their children’s garden plot. Children need to ask questions rather than adults answering questions before the child even inquires. By partitioning off an area in your garden especially for the kids they will inquire, discover, learn and grow right along with the plants that they cultivate.

Getting Started

Sit down with your children and establish a plan. First, find a spot of land that is specifically for them. It is best to keep the area on a smaller scale so that it is not overwhelming. Grab a piece of paper and draw out a diagram for that space. Consider the amount of sun or shade the area receives and talk about the need to get plants that will thrive in those given conditions. Prepare the earth by tilling it and possibly adding organic nutrients to enrich the soil. Give your child ideas for the garden and then let them choose which direction they want to go in, for instance; a monochromatic garden, an edible garden, maybe a wildflower garden, a perennial garden, a garden to attract birds and butterflies, the ideas are endless and this will be a creative activity for you and your kids. Leaf through magazines and books with your children to find inspirations and plants that they think are cool. The idea is that you as a parent are merely a facilitator and role model. The child begins with the inception of the garden’s theme all the way to the harvest and fall clean up.

Prairie Elementary School

Prairie Elementary School located at 67^th and Mission Road in Prairie Village Kansas began a garden project in 1995 that supported six garden beds. Classroom teachers Maureen Beaudet and Becky Lewis in hopes that children would learn about their environment and it would be a terrific way to use some “alternative teaching tools” started the project. Becky Lewis says, “Students learn that the balance of the hydrosphere, the lithosphere and the atmosphere is a responsibility that each individual can assume no matter how young or old. We have found that some children that do not find success with the standard ‘lecture’ style or textbook presentation may come alive with wonder and excitement when put in the gardens ‘hands on’ atmosphere.”

The project began with students making maps of how they envisioned the garden area then a committee of parents, teachers and students decided on the basic plan. Fundraisers and construction then began. A decade later the once modest garden is now home to a 5,000 gallon pond, a facsimile of the original one-room school house that is used as a garden shed for storing equipment, an outdoor amphitheatre, a compost area and several wonderful sculptures.

Fourth grade teacher Becky Lewis states, “All students at Prairie Elementary are involved in the maintenance of the garden. Classes can go to the outdoor classroom as an extension of the lesson, which puts learning in the hands of the students, whether that be touching, measuring, observing or investigating. They are learning about their environment as well as other academic and social opportunities. For instance; we may use a flower head to practice the measurements of a circle (diameter and radius), we learn about reading the PH levels in the soil and pond water, the curriculum opportunities are endless.”

Getting children out in the garden is clearly a wonderful occasion to extend the classroom but gardening is also a useful medium to help children psychologically and with simple life lessons.

Garden Therapy

“Gardening helps kids stay grounded, literally.” Says Teri Seal, a Child Psychologist at the KU Medical Center in the Department of Psychiatry, “Reaping crops and tending to land can all be a very calming activity for kids. Our kids are pulled in so many directions anymore that taking time to get dirty, have fun and keep things playful is extremely important in every child’s life and development.”

Gardening can teach kids many life lessons. Dr. Seal says, “What can be more exciting than creating and discovering life’s cycles? We each will be tiny at one point and then mature and die just as it is with plants; it is a mini life lesson. Another wonderful life lesson gardening helps convey is about delaying gratification. Children learn that you have to work on a garden now and wait for the results, this is an important aspect in developmental tasks.”

Dr. Seal conducted a happiness study in which she found that being out in nature makes people happy. Nurturing is also gratifying for people and is associated with happiness. Dr. Seal says, “There are natural anti-depressants and sunshine is one of them. Our brains produce more efficiently with a certain amount of sun.” So, not only is gardening beneficial for our children’s bodies but also their peace of mind.

Junior Master Gardeners

The Johnson County Extension Office also realizes the importance of not only adults gardening but children as well and they have expanded their Master Gardening Classes to kids from grades 3 thru 6. Barbara Montague, a master gardener and chairperson of the Junior Master Gardeners program, formed the group; it is comprised of 44 students who participate along with a handful of adult master gardeners who are present to mentor the budding naturalists.

The Junior Master Gardener Program is an international youth gardening experience that was developed by the Texas Cooperative Extension and is administered through the National Cooperative Extension Network. The group explains their focus as, “Junior Master Gardeners engages children in novel, and ‘hands on’ group and individual learning experiences that promote a love of gardening develop an appreciation for the environment and cultivate the mind.”

What Barbara Montague relishes most about the program is the gratification it brings to everyone involved. She says, “The interaction between the children and the Extension Master Gardeners is wonderful. The inter-generational experience is great. The kids love to dig in the dirt, and it is great for them to see the results from planting seeds and watching the plants grow, all in all it is really quite rewarding.”

Hints

Nurture a child’s curiosity. If your child seems to be interested in a garden that they can eat consider a vegetable garden. If pretty colors are a fascination then take on an annual bed.

• Concentrate on hardy, sturdy plants that can be manhandled.
• Purchase seeds that are big enough for children’s small hands and that germinate quickly so a child will retain an interest in the budding plants.
• Look for disease and pest resistant plants. Keep the garden organic because children love to touch and then put their fingers in their mouth.
• Invest in some child-sized tools such as small person gloves, spades, and rakes and so on.
• Remember to have fun; a family that gardens together grows together. Get dirty, gaze at the clouds, watch ants carry a heavy load, take these moments to be together and relax as a family.

Ideas

• Vegetable Garden: Children will love the tactile experience of growing and then eating their harvest, it should be highly rewarding for their little minds. Since children love the unexpected you may consider such plants as speckled beans, yellow pear tomatoes, red carrots, miniature cucumbers, colorful swiss chard, Easter Egg Radishes, Jack Be Little miniature pumpkins, Nasturtiums are an edible flower. Find out some of your child’s favorite foods and grow those. Try broadening your child’s appreciation of other cultures by planting an “around the world” garden. For instance; planting cilantro for Mexico, corn for Native Americans, and soybeans for Asian cuisine.
• Sensory Garden: Help children explore their five senses with a garden that titillates each one. For sight you may consider planting sunflowers, marigolds, swiss chard, gerberas and daisies. For sound try Quaking grass, Love-in-mist, Sweet Corn and bamboo. For touch experiment with Lamb’s Ear, Silver Sage, Jerusalem Sage and African Sundew. For smell go plant some curry, lavender, Chocolate Cosmos and Oriental Lilies. Lastly, for taste try spearmint, rosemary, cilantro, chives and strawberries.
• Farmer’s Market Stand: Instead of your children having a typical lemonade stand this summer they could sell their fruits, vegetables and flowers to neighbors.
• Create a tree house
• Create recipes
• Make wind chimes and bird houses
• Create a garden with hanging baskets and pots

Growing Suggestions

Plants:

• Primrose
• Bellflower
• Pansies and Violas
• Crane’s-bill Geranium
• Lamb’s Ear
• Lavender
• Lady’s Mantle
• Forget-me-not

Seeds:

• Runner Beans
• Radish
• Sweet Pea
• Marigold
• Lettuce
• Nasturtium
• Cosmos
• Cornflower
• Tobacco Plant

Herbs:

• Spearmint
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Chives
• Sage
• Oregano
• Coriander
• Sweet Bay
• Tarragon

Fruits & Vegetables:

• Strawberry
• Spinach
• Swiss Chard
• Carrot
• Potato
• Beetroot

Now is the time to introduce your children to the many splendid wonders that the garden has to offer. Get creative with your children and have fun getting dirty together.

Suggested Reading & Other Resources:

www.jmgkids.com/

“Let’s Grow-72 Gardening Adventures with Children” by Linda Tilgren

A Baby’s Garden : Introducing Your Baby to the Joys of the Garden

“A Child’s Garden” by Elizabeth St.Cloud Muse & Eva Saull (Illustrator)

Sources:

Colostate.edu

BBC.co.uk

The American Gardener Magazine

Dr. Teri Seal

Becky Lewis

Barbara Montegue