b WILD
SUMMER CAMP
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3. Digging in the dirt can make kids healthier.
Several studies show that children who were raised on farms don’t
have as many respiratory allergies, asthma, or autoimmune disorders
as children who were raised in urban areas because children who live
on farms are exposed 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.
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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.
To register call 407.323.4450 x 123,
email [email protected],
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10 | V O L U S I A parent M A G A Z I N E
“They become sleuths, starting in the garden and heading into the
computers,” Tovi says.
8. Gardening is a good work out.
Gardening is good physical labor involving muscles that don’t always
get a workout. Even the most seasoned gym-goer may admit to being
sore the day after working in a garden. Gardening involves stretching,