to more microbes and fungi in the dirt. Letting children
get outside and get in the dirt may actually make them
healthier than keeping them tidy, clean and inside.
4. Gardening strengthens emotional and
interpersonal skills.
Children who garden learn responsibility, patience,
perseverance and how to deal with disappointment if
the garden doesn’t grow the way they expected. How
do they collaborate with other siblings, friends, or
schoolmates to get the garden work done? These are
character-building skills that research shows children
reap in the garden.
One year, I witnessed this at a school garden when we
had a drought. Watering the plants and trying to keep
them healthy was an arduous task, and the students and
I learned about perseverance and teamwork.
5. Gardening connects children with nature.
When children garden they gain ownership in what
they are cultivating. I have seen my own children grow
“attached” to the plants in the containers on our patio
garden. As children become more knowledgeable about
all the living things in the garden, they are less likely to
be afraid of touching the plants, getting soil on their
hands or being near bugs. They are no longer afraid of
the unknown when they become familiar with what is in
the garden.
6. Gardening helps relieve stress for the whole family.
A garden can be therapeutic. Your fourth grader isn’t
battling traffic, raising children or feeling the demands
of a pressure-ridden job, but even kids can feel stress,
and the garden is good for eliminating it. In fact, a study
in the Netherlands showed that after 30 minutes of
gardening, subjects who had shown stress before they
gardened had a “fully restored” positive mood. And if
the adults in the family are feeling stressed and they
garden with their children, it can help the whole family
feel more harmonious.
7. Gardening teaches kids to problem-solve.
“When they garden, children learn problem-solving
skills,” Tovi says. “They say ‘This trellis doesn’t work very
well. How can we make one that will better support this
kind of plant?’”
In a garden, children ask questions like “What is eating
this plant?” or “Is this tree dying?”
Once children become absorbed in solving the problems
in a garden, they want to research to find the best
answers.
“They become sleuths, starting in the garden and
heading into the computers,” Tovi says.
2019 Joseph A. Strasser
Butterfly Festival
April 27th- Saturday
10am- 4pm
Handmade crafts- Live
Butterfly House
Animal Encounter-And more!!
Donate Blood at the LifeSouth Mobile
3:30 Butterfly Release*
*Weather permitting
Sponsors? More info? [email protected]
Tree Hill Nature Center
7152 Lone Star Rd., Jax, Fl 32211 Tree Hill appreciates the support of Joseph A. Strasser and:
904-724-4646
$5 Adults
$4 Senior/Military/
Students/Teachers
$3 Ages 3-17
Free members and under 3
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