Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Kids in the Garden With No Muddy Shoes!!


By Rhonda Cossey

Anyone with kids and a garden knows that muddy shoes can wreak havoc everywhere. The way to eliminate this is to make your garden kid accessible, but parent controlled. Grow your vegetable crops in containers and see how much fun it is to teach the children where their vegetables and fruit come from. It is a great experience, and if successful may even get them to enjoy the foods that they have always turned their noses up at before!

Being naturally curious, kids have a tendency to ask a lot of questions. Letting them get their hands dirty makes learning more fun and the interactive method of teaching them how to grow plants can be as beneficial for you as it is for them. Gather up some containers, get you some good soil, and let the kids choose what plants they will want to help grow. You can always grow your own (since the kids will probably not choose the same as you would). Make sure that the plants or seeds that they choose can be successfully grown in a container. You might direct them to tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans since these are some of the best container vegetables. But if they insist on some exotic, unknown species let them try it. You might just find something new to serve for dinner! Almost anything is growable in containers that you can grow in the garden, just make sure you have the room and the conditions that the plants like. All garden plants need sun, so a sunny spot on your deck or patio can be the exact place you need to grow your garden.

Keeping it clean is a primary concern, so locate your plants on concrete, even along the edge of a driveway is acceptable if you do not have a deck or patio. Close to the house means that it will be easily accessible for a quick kid update or to keep an eye on maintenance and watering. Don't expect the kids remember to do this, since kids will lose interest from time to time, but make sure they are involved with the planting and any maintenance you deem necessary, and they will become excited again when the plants start producing flowers and vegetables.

Having the experience of growing their own food is one of the greatest opportunities for children to learn about nature and how things in nature work. It is also one of the best ways of learning things about your kids that you might not have known. The connection made during gardening, the mutual learning between teacher and pupil, and the opportunity to have kids in the garden with no muddy shoes is an important and unforgettable experience in the growth of a family.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rhonda_Cossey

No comments: