Starting a Garden is a Wonderful Thing To Do with Your Kids
First lady Michelle Obama put in a vegetable garden this Spring on the White House property. This has not been done in a very long time but it is something she wanted to do with her 2 school aged daughters, Sasha and Malia. She figuredt it would be wonderfult to have such close access to fresh vegetables to eatbut she also thought it was important for her girls to learn how to take care of something. Creating a garden for children to enjoy and work on is a great gift and one that will give them special memories. There are various kinds of gardens that you can do with your children and in a variety of sizes and locations. If you have a goodflat piece of land, you may want to do a large vegetable garden like the Obamas. If youreside in an urban setting and just have a small outdoor area, planting flowers and vegetables in pots may be thebest way. If you live in a harsher climate you may have minimal plants to work on and decorate your garden more with saint statues or Virgin Mary statues. Whatever type of garden you do, the following steps can get you started.
Once you have decided what kind of garden you want to do with yourkidschildren, you need to pick the best location. Itneeds to get a lot of sun and not too shaded by trees or a building. The more open the area, the better. If you do not own a power tiller you can rent one from several home improvement store. This will help get the earth all turned up and ready. After you till the ground, use a rake to gently smooth out the area. A chicken wire fence should be installed around the area if you are doing a vegetable one to keep little critters from eating your veggies. Based on the size of the garden area, decide how many plants will fit and what kinds you would enjoy having. Involve the children in this decision making process. If you are doing flowers, have the children tell you what their favorite colors are and if you are planting a vegetable garden, ask them what type of veggies they want to grow. It is proven that if help with a vegetable garden, children are more likely to eat vegetables that they planted themselves. If they choose to buy decorations like saint statues or Virgin Mary statues for the garden that is great as well. Once you havebought all of the plants, get the children some work gloves and little shovels and have them start digging small holes to plant the seeds and/or plants. Be sure to saturate the garden with water thoroughly and water it every day. Another good project for the kids to do , especially in a vegetable garden is to make marker signs for the plants.
Creating a garden benefits children in giving them responsibility of taking care of a living thing and a sense of pride in being good at it.
