Whether you’re looking for ways to encourage your child to spend more time outdoors or you’d like them to pick up a new hobby, gardening is an inexpensive and fun activity that will help you keep your little ones busy over the coming seasons.
While they develop new skills and self-confidence by spending time outdoors maintaining the garden, they’re also likely to enjoy getting back to basics and being allowed to, and in some cases, encouraged, to get their hands dirty!
As their efforts and interest in the garden increases, children will gain a more in-depth understanding of plants and wildlife, growing and the seasons, all while they develop a love of nature and being outdoors. The following activities are sure to get your children involved and interested in gardening!
Gardening Activities for Children
There are many activities that children can get involved with in the garden, and our infographic covers just a few of the basics to help get your gardening-journey started!
What are the Benefits?
As we’re so frequently hearing, many of us aren’t spending enough time outdoors or amongst nature – and that includes children.
Filling our lungs with fresh air and connecting with nature are just some of the many benefits of gardening, below we’ve covered a handful of the others.
An Understanding of Food
Picky eaters are the perfect candidates for homegrown food! If you’re endlessly searching for ways to gently encourage your child to eat more fruit and veg, this may be the answer. Pick up some seeds and have a go at growing some of your produce from scratch. We’d recommend starting with vegetables that are fast-growing and easy to care for like beans or cucumber, as these are more likely to maintain children’s attention and interest. 
Responsibility and Patience
Seedlings and plants requires a lot of care, especially during the warmer months and, without regular watering and weeding, they can suffer. As children are encouraged to take care of their plants each day, they will develop a sense of responsibility and patience.
Fine and Gross Motor Skills
Gardening requires movement, and with this comes the opportunity for children to practise their fine and gross motor skills. Planting seedlings require a gentle touch and precision while digging and weeding are much bolder movements which engage the larger muscle groups.
Education
Gardening can be used to support further learning and development. Alongside the opportunity to practise numeracy and literacy, an understanding of weather patterns and seasons can be taught. While lifecycles of insects and plants will also be featured topics.
At St Peter’s Prep, a private school in Devon, we embrace and encourage outdoor learning.
We have a weekly gardening club for our Reception to Year 2 children and the teachers are assisted by a volunteer member of Lympstone Gardening Club.
Our Nursery and Reception children have regular wild woods sessions and pupils’ lessons regularly take place outside amongst our extensive grounds, particularly in the summer months.
With a 28-acre site featuring a woodland, swimming pool, adventure playgrounds and lawns, there are plenty of outdoor activities available for our pupils.
If you’d like to find out more about the curriculum or any of our sessions, get in touch with us today!
You may also be interested in:
The Benefits of Outdoor Play for Children
Guide to Outdoor Learning
