Do you dream of working side by side with your family in the garden? Are you wondering how to involve your toddlers in ways that aren't counterproductive? Do you wish your teenager would be excited about working in the garden? I'll tell you one thing: it's never going to be perfect. Kids are kids and we have to embrace that. But I do have a few tips that may just help you get your kids excited about working in the garden.
1. Don't Force Them
Forcing your child to be part of your garden is more likely to turn them off from gardening than to ever make them excited. Kids who feel like gardening is a chore will likely swear it off altogether when they're grown. Our goal is to make our kids excited about gardening so they'll take that skill, use it in the future, and pass it on to future generations. If they really don't want to be in the garden, that's ok. But there are ways to show them just how fun gardening can be.
2. Lead by Example
Our two oldest children are currently three and five. My three year old loves to follow my husband and I around and do whatever we're doing. He's very curious which makes it easy to give him tasks such as filling buckets with dirt and watering plants. Our five year old on the other hand is very independent. He always has been! But once in a while he'll see me planting seeds or pulling weeds and ask if he can help.
3. Don't Discourage
When my five year old does ask help, there are times when I honestly would rather to the job on my own. The other day I was planting snap peas in the garden and he really wanted to join me. Even though I was already in my zone, I convinced myself to let him plant the seeds. There are times when I do have to do certain things on my own, but I figured that these are big seeds and it's a simple task, why shouldn't I let him do it? Because he doesn't always seem interested to work in the garden I don't want to discourage him when he is interested.
4. Let Them Choose
Letting your kids pick which plants to grow in the garden is a great way to get them excited. You can even let those plants be their responsibility. Either way, as they watch their plant grow, bud, and produce vegetables or fruit, you'll see the excitement naturally reveal itself! There's nothing quite like picking and eating something right out of the garden, especially when YOU are the one that helped it grow. This year we're building our boys their own garden where they get to choose what to grow and will be responsible for take care of it. So far they've chosen to grown lettuce, orange peppers, yellow and red watermelons, and sunflowers.
5. Teach Them
Gardening should never be a task-oriented experience. Immersing yourself and your child in understanding what makes a plant grows, what the different parts are, and investigating the little details is a way to become a part of the process rather than just pushing the process along. When children learn and understand something, they feel purpose in caring for it. They'll find pride and joy when they see the process through and be excited to do it all over again.
6. Offer Rewards
If the reward of harvest isn't enough for your child, offering other incentives may peak their interest. Every household is different so you'll have to choose what those incentives look like for your family. My husband and I run a gardening business so any time I'm working in the garden for a business related purpose, I offer my kids a little allowance. You could encourage your child to sell some of the extra produce they harvest or give them an allowance for certain tasks. Instead of cash, maybe throw a harvest party. Inviting friends and family to enjoy the harvest of your garden will make some kids excited to show off their hard work.
If you can help your child understand gardening and what it means to be part of the process, it won't be hard to get them excited about getting into the garden. Do you have other ways to get your kids excited about gardening? Comment them below!
