Teach Kids the Joy of Gardening

By Valene Ayar

It has been proven, repeatedly and irrefutably, that fresh air and physical exercise do wonders for children’s physical and mental health, as well as their intellect, spirit, and overall happiness and well-being.

However, with technology and social media consuming the lives of children, long gone are the endless bike rides and neighborhood-wide backyard games (Capture the Flag was my absolute favorite) of yesteryear. Nowadays, children and teens are far more interested in scrolling through TikTok or obsessively checking and re-checking their latest Instagram post to see how many “likes” they can garner – which has sadly become the metric by which our children seek validation and self-esteem.

A New Hobby as Old as Dirt

Prior to 2020, gardening was most prevalent amongst older generations – typically the 50+ crowd. However, three years ago the pandemic brought a massive uptick in the hobby and created a much wider berth in the age range of a “typical” gardener.

As the COVID crisis was reaching a fever pitch, everyone was looking for ways to keep busy during the seemingly endless lockdown and self-imposed isolation. Realizing they could no longer white-knuckle their way through it, many families turned to gardening.

The list of benefits (backed by scientific research) that gardening has on those who partake in it is a long one, and those benefits continue to compound. I highly recommend you do a basic Google search and find the massive library out there filled to brim with how this hobby will pay off in dividends for you and your children.

Develop Healthy Heating Habits

It is a universal truth, a tale as old as time - most children absolutely hate eating their vegetables.

This is not news. It is olds. However, research has found that when schools engaged in a hands-on gardening program with students they found that, come snack time, the students who partook in the gardening practice all preferred fruits and vegetables as opposed to the toxically processed and sugar-loaded snacks they previously consumed.

Because children plant, care for, and learn about their crops, (whatever they may be), they develop a sense of pride, excitement, and connection when they see the fruits of their labor (no pun intended) finally start to come in. Eating vegetables goes from feeling like a punishment to feeling like a reward for their hard work. As you can imagine, this new mindset and healthy eating habit creates a ripple effect that will impact other behaviors throughout their lives.

Improve Confidence and Self-Esteem

It bears repeating that feelings of self-worth, confidence, pride, and accomplishment are created when engaging in fulfilling work. To say that these feelings are crucial to future success and overall happiness would be an understatement.

And in this tech-obsessed, narcissistic, validation-seeking, and dangerously superficial world we live in, we need to do whatever it takes to make sure that our children learn to respect and love themselves from within rather than through a screen contingent upon how much attention they are receiving for their Instagram photos or Tik Tok dances. That kind of attention provides absolutely no value to them in the large scheme of things, nor should they be used as contingencies for self-love or validation.

Strengthen Analytical Thinking Skills

There is so much to be said about the positive holistic effects of gardening that impact well-being and cultivate confidence, but there are other benefits that are part and parcel of tilling the soil—the new thinking patterns and neural pathways that will emerge as your kids develop critical thinking skills and logistics-based cognitive abilities they might never learn in a classroom.

As they delve into learning about the process and mechanisms, (you know—the nitty gritty science and mathematics of it all), they will be engaging strategies they learned in the classroom and actually applying that knowledge to real-life mechanics. This will go on to create new neural pathways in their brain as well as solidify current ones.

Additionally, your children learn how to think more analytically as they engage in the higher-level thinking required when we have long-term goals and expectations. Children learn best when they enjoy the process and when it doesn’t feel like “learning.”

Improve Spiritual Health and Mindfulness

Speaking as someone who recently got into gardening myself, I can vouch for the fact that there is a spiritual and powerful feeling you get when you put your bare hands into the earth and can literally feel the essence of life. Even if you or your children prefer to garden with gloves, you owe it to yourselves to take those gloves off occasionally and just grab hold of the soil. Take a moment to close your eyes and fully immerse all your senses in the experience. Say a prayer of gratitude or enjoy a brief meditation where you are fully present in the moment and mindful of what you are currently doing – using life to make new life (just like you did with the child you created) and the synchronicity of it all.

When you engage in such a deeply spiritual practice with your child and use it as an opportunity to truly appreciate the essence of life, it will create an experience you can share with the universe. Audrey Hepburn once said, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

God bless and go pick up that spade!