Kids and Gardening

At Chess Mates we support an activity that teaches confidence, creativity, and cooperation through fun, whether it’s indoor or outdoor. Gardening can be a fun and productive way to spend time with your kids. Gardening gives kids a sense of respect for nature and teaches them things like responsibility through having them take care of a plant.

Safety

When gardening with your children always remember that when using garden tools they need to be supervised as these can often be sharp and potentially dangerous. Children also have a much lower tolerance for chemicals so if you’re going to be doing some weeding it’s always best to get your kids doing it the old fashioned way using their hands and some spades. Being sun safe is always something to remember as well.

Plants

To get the children interested brightly colored plants that grow quickly are usually the best option; things like sunflowers and pumpkins are good examples. Once children have seen the fruits of their labor they are far more likely to keep on gardening and can then move to more complicated plants that take some time. You must always remind your child to be patient and that plants take time, the important thing is that they have fun doing it.

Activities

Kids can do many activities in the garden under supervision, they can plant, dig, water, and harvest plants. Children can also perform craft and decoration activities with any plants they grow as a reward for their good work.