As a teenager, I remember taking an aptitude test which would ultimately help decide what route to follow regarding my tertiary studies. I remember clearly the advice given, “Mrs. Brehm, your daughter should never work with plants or anything involved in botany.” My mother concurred and thought to herself, “Well, that was money well spent.” (In their defense, they did include a few more things). Here my mother and I stood side by side. She was the gardener of all gardeners, “Mrs. Green Fingers” herself, and her garden was her solace and her haven. Then, there was me.

Luckily, my son inherited a love for gardening from the get-go. It was possibly not even an hour after moving into our new home; he escaped his new natural territory and decided to explore the outdoors (his new garden). He observed his surroundings in full detail as if planning and strategizing what to do next.

Dig, burrow, bury…feed, water, nurture. And the best part, being covered from head to toe in dirt while adding water and layering his skin with his new homemade mud mask. Primitive yet instinctive. Slowly but surely, he made sure his new habitat became his home. The garden was now in full swing and his ideas were flowing.

Benefits of gardening with our kids

It must be a mom thing, don’t you think? As much as we teach, we also learn. We start to love everything that interests our children, and we learn about their benefits too.

So what does gardening do?

• It teaches them responsibility.
• It has been proven to reduce stress levels.
• It can assist with making healthy choices (kids love eating something that they have grown themselves).
• It assists a child with fine motor and gross motor skills.
• It provides exercise.
• It engages all of our children’s senses which is vital for their development.
• It encourages them to be creative.
• It allows them to make choices (where to place certain plants and why).
• It increases their knowledge about the environment and the importance of it.
• It creates a sense of ownership.
• It increases vitamin D levels.
• It increases bonding time for the family.
• It has even been said to improve their mood at times (this is a great one).

The best gardening apps

But how do we make them enthusiastic? Guess what? There are apps, apps for everything even wait for it, gardening.

Here are a couple for the kids:

• Grandma’s Garden-available on the App Store.
• Grow Garden-available on Google Play and App Store.

Don’t think I forgot about you. The adults need something too, so here we go:

• Gardroid Vegetable Garden-available on Google Play.

Get growing now

If you had to think about the most important benefit, what would it be? The thing is that every plant or tree will eventually tell a story. And at the same time, memories are created—the most valuable benefit of all. Now, we’ve got some tips for gardening with kids to help you get started.