Gardening with Children

As the name implies, we are a day care center. We are in the business of teaching children the basics that they need to begin school. But we also try to expand the knowledge and information to include other areas that they find interesting. One of these areas is gardening.

Gardening is an activity that can be taught at an early age and can be enjoyed throughout their lives. In fact, I was introduced to gardening by my Grandmother when I was four years old. It was this experience that I carried with me all during my life.

I’ve enjoyed gardening as a hobby where you can relieve the stress of the day and create something useful. It can be growing tomatoes which you can use when they are ripe, or it can be flowers which can be used to beautify your home. Regardless of how you use your gardening skills, it is something that the entire family can enjoy for many years.

Part of our programming is having the kids being exposed to the day care center garden. We get them involved in the planning, planting, and care of our garden. It’s only a small part of our overall programming, but it is a good introduction to gardening. We recommend that all of our children at the day care center continue gardening at home. It doesn’t have to be fancy or a grand scale garden. Even just a small house plant or outdoor plant is a great start and gets the kids involved by giving them something that they need to be responsible for.

We do ask that the parents become involved in this process, and to help we provide a number of useful websites that you can use to help teach your kids at home. Enjoy and get your hands dirty!

• My First Garden – A guide to the world of fun and cleaver gardening.
• Gardening with Children – A page to help children with their development.
• Tips for Gardening with Kids – A useful listing of tips that parents can use to get kids started with gardening.