Benefits of Gardening for Children
During this Spring, why not get children started with gardening? There are many benefits of gardening for children especially with regards to sensory motor exploration.
Children love to complete a project from start to finish and gardening can provide kids a fun way to accomplish this with wonderful end results.
Gardening is a Multi-Sensory Activity
Sensory Input
One of the main benefits of gardening for children is that it is a multi-sensory activity. Think of all the senses that are involved in gardening:
- Tactile – touching the rough seeds, feeling the dry dirt, experiencing cold, wet mud, handling the soft fuzz of a green bean or the smooth skin of a melon.
- Proprioceptive – digging in the dirt, pushing a seed into the ground, carrying watering cans, hauling watermelons and pulling weeds.
- Vestibular – inverting the head when you bend over to plant seeds, turning around to water a different plant, etc.
- Olfactory – smelling the flowers, herbs and vegetables.
- Taste – enjoying a crisp bite of a carrot or a warm tomato from the sun
- Visual – looking at the fruits of your labor, colorful flowers, and vegetables.
- Auditory – listening for the sounds of other creatures outdoors
Motor Output
In addition to experience sensory input during gardening, children are able to develop a plan of action and product motor output to garden. Think of all the motor skill experiences that add to the many benefits of gardening for children:
- Fine motor – handling the small seeds or picking a berry or bean
- Gross motor – kneeling in the garden, quadruped searching for cucumbers, squatting and standing
- Coordination – using garden tools with both hands or maneuvering a wheelbarrow
- Balance – avoiding stepping on plants or walking on the uneven ground
More Spring Time Sensory Motor Experiences
If you need sensory motor activities with a Spring theme check out these resources:
Spring Poses: download includes 12 full-size pages with one Spring pose and directions per page, 3 pages of the 12 poses in smaller sizes, 20 games ideas to use with the poses and a Spring blossom tree game. This download encourages: postural and muscle strengthening, gross motor skills, and physical activity.
Spring Sensory Motor Packet: Practice fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual activities with this NO PREP, fun, Spring themed packet. This is an excellent activity packet for in-class activities, therapy sessions, class parties, carryover activities, brain breaks, early finishers and indoor recess.
Spring Skill Builders: This 71 page PDF packet help to build fundamental fine motor and executive functioning skills for Pre-K to First Grade age kids. Target specific CCSS literacy and math skills in ways that interest and engage even the most reluctant children. Provide differentiated yet equivalent materials so you can easily provide the just-right level of difficulty and challenge for a group with diverse skills.
How to Reap the Benefits of Gardening for Children
Why not start a garden this Spring! Here are 8 tips to creating a successful garden experience with children:
- Make sure you get the children involved. Ask what types of food or flowers they would like to grow.
- Look for seeds with short germination periods to keep the children interested.
- Give each child a small area that they can plant their seeds.
- Mark each child’s with a self decorate garden marker (i.e. large paint stirrer stick) in the ground.
- Use good soil to ensure growth of the plants.
- Remember to water and weed (fertilize if necessary).
- Low on space? How about creating a large container garden for the children to nurture and watch grown.
- If necessary, adapt the garden tools with bigger handles or velcro straps. If a child can not get to the ground to garden, bring the garden to them by starting a container garden.
Happy Gardening!
