Kids love gardening! The marriage of children and gardening has great benifits for your child's education and spiritual well-being. In fact, most children are fascinated by the plant kingdom. It's not hard to encourage a child to garden. What kid wouldn't volunteer to play in the mud. Well, gardening is playing in the mud, with benifits.
Unlike most subjects, gardening is hands on learning! The only way to learn how to garden is to do it. I've never met any successful armchair gardeners. That's because gardening is an activity that is learned through experience. By teaching children how to garden at a young age, they can use these skills later in life to become truly connected to the earth through choices in their education and career goals.
For teaching a child to garden, little is needed. A pot, some well-drained soil, and a few seeds are the materials you'll need to stimulate your child to learn how to grow a plant. Some great seeds to use are large, quick germinating seeds such as beans, peas, and corn. It's a good idea to pick a plant that will produce a fruit to keep your child from becoming bored with the project. Tomatoes and cucumbers are great choices for plants that produce a fruit.
First, fill a pot with loose, well-drained soil. Moisten the soil before you sow to keep the seed from settling to far in the soil. Sow the seed about an inch deep and cover with clear plastic. Mark the date of sowing the seed and write any other useful information about the seeds you've sown. Don't set the pot in direct sunlight until the seed has sprouted and you have removed the plastic. Place the pot in a warm location and check the seed for germination about twice a day.
When the sprout emerges from tne soil, remove the clear plastic. The seedling can now be placed in direct sunlight. The window should produce at least 6 hours of direct sunlight to keep the plants from getting too leggy, or elongated. Watch the moisture level to keep the new plant from drying out. This will only stress the plant and stunt it's growth. Too much water can be just as bad as not enough. Damping off is a condition caused from too much water that rots the lower stem, thus killing the seedling. The soil should be moist but not drenched.
When the seedling roots can be seen peaking through the outside surfaces of the soil, the seedling is ready to become a plant. The seedling can be planted in a pot or straight into the garden. This process is called transplanting, the act of moving an existing plant or tree. Transplanting is fun for children. They get to play in an even larger amount of dirt.
First, pick a pot slightly larger than the existing pot, and add a little soil to fill the bottom of the pot. Now, place the seedling in the pot and fill in around the root system taking care to minimize disturbimg the existing roots. Water the plant after you're finished and let it grow. New plants are especially prone to not having enough water. Their root systems are small and not spread out enough to find available moisture. Keep an eye on watering and make sure it's in a location that receives plenty of sunlight.
Finally, sit back and watch it grow. Measuring the plant every few days will keep your child excited to the end. Have them give a report on what they learned from this activity. If anything, it can teach patience as well as nurturing a living thing. Growing a plant for a child can often be compared to taking care of a pet. This activity could encourage your child to take up gardening as a lifetime hobby. Maybe your child will grow up to be the next great botanist.
