By Jane Marsh
It can be challenging to find activities to keep busy boys engaged and get them outside. Why not try growing fruits, vegetables and flowers in your backyard? Playing in the garden is fun for kids without the risks of extreme sports or the trouble unsupervised offspring can get into the outdoors. The practice allows fathers to build connections while teaching young children how plants grow. Digging in the dirt has practical and rewarding applications, such as growing nutritious food and maintaining your home’s beautiful landscaping.
Kids can learn all sorts of beneficial knowledge from the grounds around your home. From caring for the earth to feeding their future family to kindness toward other living things, the space is teeming with opportunities to mold your children into caring, thriving people.
Though you could open your door, throw out a handful of seeds and see what sprouts, it’s better to maximise the experience with a plan for what activities you want to pursue and what they’ll teach your sons.
1. Choose Kid-Friendly Plants
Scientists predict the UK’s climate will mirror Barcelona’s by 2050. Figuring out how to grow plants for changing weather conditions is a skill that may serve your sons well one day. Drought-resistant plants are the perfect place for young gardeners to start.
Depending on your location, some excellent options include:
- Strawberries
- Tomatoes
- Californian poppies
- Potatoes
- Peas
Select hardy varieties that are likely to sprout and thrive so kids see success with their first garden. Look for plants that grow well in cooler temperatures in case your area experiences unpredictable weather.
2. Review Garden Tool Safety
Carefully select the tools your children use. Even a small trowel can injure little fingers if used incorrectly. All tools should be free of sharp edges. At the same time, kids need to know to avoid anything that might harm them. Part of gardening is teaching children how to prevent injury. Modeling safety gear, such as goggles and gloves, will encourage them to wear it.
Outside, they might also encounter mowers and other equipment that could harm or make them uncomfortable. Even automatic sprinklers could soak them on a chilly day. Robot mowers keep dads and kids injury-free. Parents can avoid steep terrains by allowing an autonomous mower to handle difficult sections of the yard. You’ll have free time to better monitor your sons while the lawn equipment runs.
3. Make-Believe Fun
Set up a pretend gardening center and stock it with supplies like seeds, gloves, watering cans and kid-safe weed killer. Throw in a few tote bags and let the kids “go shopping” before they get to the serious work of planting.
You can pretend to be a shopper while they run the register or vice versa. Playing make-believe allows children to try different scenarios in an emotionally safe environment. They’ll learn to gather the items needed for a successful growing season.
If you want to take the activity further, you can add colour identification and ask your kids to do simple addition to determine how many seeds they need. You can also focus on science by explaining what a plant needs to grow from a seed to a sprout to an adult, food-bearing plant.
