How gardening helps children blossom

Uncategorised Advice Monthly Gardening Blogs

Know yourself, grow yourself

This year’s Children’s Mental Health Week theme is ‘Know yourself, grow yourself’, which is all about helping children recognise and accept their emotions. We’re exploring how gardening can play a part in helping them doing this. From building patience through sowing seeds, to the power of the '5-4-3-2-1 Challenge', keep reading to discover some fun projects you can do with your little ones this Children’s Mental Health week...

Patience: Sowing seeds

Thanks to everything from on-demand video to same-day delivery, we've all got used to expecting things almost instantly.

Gardening reminds us of that often the hings most worth doing take time.

Sowing plants from seed is a brilliant way to teach children the importance of patience, dedication and responsibility.

Project: The Seed Speed Race

Plant a selection of different seeds and compare how quickly they all grow. You could measure their heights once a week to track their progress. Spinach, rocket and other salad leaves grow quite fast, while bell peppers are slower to mature, making these a great comparison. Or why not pick up some Fun Seeds, including the remarkable edible Nasturtium flowers?!

Spinach Cello F1

Mr Fothergill's Seeds

£2.99

Sunflower

Mr Fothergill's Seeds

£1.99

Rocket Wild

Mr Fothergill's Seeds

£2.99

Helping others: Looking after the birds

Winter is the most challenging time of year for garden birds.

Scarce food and freezing temperatures make it extra hard for them to stay warm – and they’ll soon have extra mouths to feed, too!

Caring for garden birds can teach children so much, from learning about the different types of birds they see, to discovering that helping others can lift our mood too…

Project: Create a sanctuary for the birds!

Put up some bird feeders near a window and get your children to keep track of all the different birds you see. It's nearly nesting season, so now's also a great time to put up a nest box, or – better still – paint their own!

Mindfulness: Sensing the garden

One of the ways being in the garden can help children is through fostering ‘presence’ or ‘mindfulness’.

Don’t let the wording put you off: it’s not about sitting cross-legged and saying mantras!

The idea is really simple: while children are busy sowing seeds or watering the flower beds, they’re focused wholly on what's in front of them, rather than what's going on in their heads.

Mindfulness can help all of us deal with stress or anxiety by moving our focus away from our racing thoughts, and onto the sights, smells and sounds around us.

From the gentle bubble of a water feature to the sweet scent of flowers, gardens are a feast for the senses, making them a great place to practise mindfulness.

Project: The '5-4-3-2-1 Challenge'

The next time you’re in the garden, ask your child to name five things they can see (anything from a cloud to a snail…), four things they can feel (like the softness of grass or the roughness of bark), three things they can hear (like the call of birds or the noise of the wind), two things they can smell (say freshly cut grass or the scent of a flower), and one thing they can taste (pick some herbs if you’re growing any, or pop inside and take a bite of something you could grow in the garden).

Sweet Basil Seeds

Mr Fothergill's Seeds

£2.69

Pink Watering Can 1L

Smart Garden

£12.99

Thanks for reading.

Uncategorised Advice Monthly Gardening Blogs

Related Posts