Not everybody has a green thumb, but that doesn’t mean we can’t all have fun outdoors in the spring and summer. Families seeking to improve the look and feel of their gardens and outdoor spaces have many options, but this is often seen as a task fit for adults rather than children.
Being active, learning new skills and enjoying family time are all great goals for children of all ages. Getting outdoors and gardening can be a perfect opportunity to accomplish all three. However, many kids do not enjoy outdoor work, so how can parents make the process fun for them?
Let’s take a gander at some ideas for making gardening and outdoor work fun for the whole family.
Give Your Kids Stewardship Over a Garden Project
Most children only take as much interest in a project or task as the amount of responsibility they’re given over it. While some gardening and outdoor projects require adult supervision and planning, other forms can be more free-form. This is where giving kids their first taste of outdoor work can be ideal.
By letting them build their very own garden as a spring or summer project, they are far more likely to find enjoyment in the process. You can even increase their interest by letting them pick out various outdoor decorations and furnishings for various projects. Through online retailers like Argos, you can find Argos discount codes for DIY and home gardening supplies that make even larger outdoor décor and gardening projects cost-effective.
Let Your Kids Explore
One of the most opportune characteristics your children have that makes the notion of outdoor work potentially fun, is their curiosity. Younger kids in particular want to romp about, explore and experience new things. From finding weird-looking bugs to playing around in the dirt and mud, these experiences can be formative for children – and for cultivating a love of the outdoors.
Keeping your kids on a proverbial lead while outdoors will often demoralise their interest in outdoor work. As such, encourage them to sift through the dirt, find interesting plants, play with bugs and explore other natural occurrences that will make gardening and outdoor work more fun.
Focus on the Benefits
Most kids have a naturally benevolent view of the world. They want to do things that help people and animals. They want to be caretakers for others. When selling your kids on the importance of gardening and outdoor work, do not forget about this. It often becomes easier to convince kids to stick with their outdoor gardening tasks if they know it will provide a benefit to others.
For instance, explain to your kids that planting select flowers will help more bees thrive, which are essential to our ecosystem. By planting certain shrubs and trees, you can explain that these help to reduce the effects of climate change and are good for the environment. When planting vegetables and fruits, let them know that their efforts will produce food that the entire family will be able to enjoy later.
Not every child will have an innate interest in outdoor work, but you can encourage your kids to be more active and responsible through a few quick tweaks in your efforts. By focusing on real benefits, letting them have responsibility and making sure they have opportunities to explore on their own, your kids will find outdoor work and gardening to be more of a rewarding experience than a dreaded one.
