7 Benefits of Gardening for Your Child’s Growth and Development

Don’t make gardening just a weekend activity for parents. Next time, you can invite your little one to join in “hoeing, hoeing, hoeing deeply planting corn in our garden”. It doesn’t have to be specifically planting corn. Whatever seeds you plant with your little one, in fact there are still many benefits of gardening for children. Come on, find out more!

Various benefits of gardening for children

As long as it is supervised by parents, gardening has many surprising benefits for your child’s growth and development. Here are some of the benefits.

1. Cultivate interest in healthy eating

Getting used to eating healthy should start early. Well, this is where the benefits of gardening for children come in, namely introducing and growing your little one’s interest in healthy foods. 

Research published in the Growing Health Benefits Report states that children who are diligently involved in gardening tend to choose fruit and vegetables as snacks.

In fact, research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that preschool children tend to eat more fruits and vegetables from their own gardens, compared to fruits or vegetables purchased at the market.

The reason is, one of the interesting things about gardening for children is the curiosity about what they planted themselves. 

Therefore, gardening can be a solution if your child is a picky eater or has difficulty eating fruits and vegetables.

2. Increase body resistance

You may be familiar with the jargon that says “Daring to get dirty is good”. Well, in fact, there is some truth to that jargon.

Children who rarely play outside tend to be more susceptible to various diseases that weaken the immune system. For example, asthma , allergies, and autoimmune diseases.

The benefits of inviting children to garden which are no less interesting are to train children’s immune systems to be stronger.

This theory is in line with the hygiene hypothesis which proposes that exposure to a variety of microbes in the first few years of a child’s life will strengthen the body’s immune system.

Exposure to bacteria helps a child’s body get used to detecting which microbes are good and which are bad, and also fighting off infections.

By gardening, children will come into direct contact with the soil, which is known to be a “home” for various foreign microbiota.

3. Sharpen children’s motor skills

The next benefit of gardening for children is that it can hone children’s motor skills.

When gardening, children are involved in many activities that involve their muscles and body coordination.

Digging the soil with a shovel, pouring water, and moving pots are small examples of actions that can stimulate motor skills.

Children whose motor skills are continuously stimulated will grow into active children. That way, blood circulation, breathing, and body posture will also improve.

In fact, stimulating children’s motor skills also helps improve children’s creativity and overall intelligence.

4. Teaches responsibility

Gardening teaches children the importance of responsibility by teaching them firsthand.

Because gardening is a sustainable activity. Children will be taught that after planting seeds, they must continue to care for them diligently until harvest time.

In order to produce results, the seeds that have been planted need to be cared for properly and cannot simply be left alone.

5. Sharpen memory and focus

Another benefit of gardening for children is improving memory and focus.

According to research published in the American Journal of Public Health , children who show a tendency towards ADHD symptoms can focus better when they are in a park or green outdoor space.

In addition, gardening can improve your little one’s alertness and cognitive skills.

The reason is, gardening is a fairly complex job so it helps children to stay calm and focused.

6. Reduces stress and anxiety 

Gardening can also provide benefits for physical and mental health , including for children.

By doing this activity, it can help reduce anxiety and stress in your little one .

This is because being active and having contact with nature and fresh air has a calming effect that can improve children’s mental well-being.

7. Teach children life skills 

There are some life skills that are not learned in school or through books. 

Well, teaching children to garden can provide benefits such as growing food, working hard, communicating, and caring about the environment. 

To do gardening activities with your little one, you can start by watering the plants every afternoon.

Then, slowly start inviting your child to plant chilies, tomatoes, and also flowers.

The more often you and your child spend time together gardening, the more quality time you will spend together to increase closeness.

Conclusion

Some of the benefits of gardening for children include: 

• fostering interest in healthy eating, 
• increase body resistance, 
• sharpen children’s motor skills, 
• teach responsibility, 
• sharpen memory and focus, 
• reduce stress and anxiety, to
• teach children life skills.