Gardening with Kids

 

Fun in the dirt!

Now that we're in the middle of Summer let's talk about gardening with kids! We all know that children are more willing to try different foods if they are a participant in growing it and cooking it. Herbs are among the easiest plants to grow, think, mint, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, basil, and oregano. These can be started indoors, left on a sunny windowsill or transferred to patios or decks for easy access when cooking. 

Having a container garden can be a great way to grow fresh fruits and veggies if you don't have a much outdoor space or if you have deer. Tomatoes, peppers, patio baby eggplants, bok choy, lettuce, green onions, and strawberries all grow well in containers. 

If you have a larger space consider growing green beans, peas, potatoes, carrots, summer squash, and zucchini.  Click here to find instructions on how to grow a green bean teepee!

Here is a fun way to repurpose old rain boots into very cute planters! Once they're done they can be hung on a fence or left on an out door table for guest and neighbors to enjoy.  

Gardening is a ‘sense-sational’ way to engage kids in outdoor learning and play! Check out this awesome Sensory Garden Activity Kit courtesy of kidsgardening.org ! This kit offers information on various plants, multi-sensory activities, and a recipe to try.  

 

 The connection between the outdoors and the immune system.

"Playing through the greenery and litter of a mini forest's undergrowth for just one month may be enough to change a child's immune system, according to an experiment in Finland." Research was conducted in Finnish daycare's to see if there truly was a connection between children playing outdoors and a healthy immune system, and there was. "Among kids who got outside – playing in the dirt, the grass, and among the trees – an increase in a microbe called gammaproteobacteria appeared to boost the skin's immune defense, as well as increase helpful immune secretions in the blood and reduce the content of interleukin-17A, which is connected to immune-transmitted diseases." Read more about this research here.

I hope you have fun gardening with your littles this summer! Let me know in the comments what's your favorite fruit or vegetable?

Also, there's only one week left to enter to win the Pride Book Giveaway! All you have to do is leave a comment on any of my blog posts and I will draw a winner next Wednesday on July 31st!!!!!!

As always thanks for reading!