Gardening can be both relaxing and satisfying, but when combined with toddlers it can feel more like trying to control a mini tornado. But with the proper mindset, creativity and patience you can transform gardening into an engaging learning activity for your toddler. In this blog, we will look at some practical tips that can encourage them to participate without turning your garden into a battleground.
Why Toddlers and Gardening Make a Great Match
While getting your toddler involved with gardening may initially seem like an uphill struggle, it actually proves an ideal pairing. Gardening provides important sensory experiences, helps develop fine motor skills, teaches important life lessons about patience, responsibility, and nature. And toddlers are naturally curious creatures who enjoy imitating adults they see around them. This makes gardening an engaging shared adventure for both you and your toddler. Plus most toddlers just adore getting messy so digging in the dirt becomes their dream activity.
Set Up for Success
Create a Toddler-Friendly Gardening Space
It isn’t a good idea to just give a toddler a trowel and hope for the best, which is why we recommend designating a part of your garden as their designated zone. Whether that’s soil, pots or both. Give them an area where they’re free to dig, explore and plant without trampling your prize begonias. Outfit their area with mini gardening tools such as mini trowels, kid-safe gloves and brightly colored watering cans. Their equipment makes the experience unique and empowering.
Choose Quick-Growing and Toddler-Friendly Plants
Toddlers tend not to have much patience, so selecting fast-growing and toddler-friendly plants such as sunflowers, radishes or snap peas that sprout quickly are ideal choices. Choose non-toxic varieties sturdy enough to withstand overzealous hands as well. Bonus points if it’s edible. Nothing beats having grown your own vegetables from seed.
Make It Fun and Engaging
Turn Gardening Into a Game
Toddlers love games. Make gardening into an interactive experience for them with challenges such as “Who can find the biggest worm?” or singing silly gardening songs while planting seeds, a playfulness-fueled activity they will keep coming back for more of. Watering plants into this experience by handing over a small watering can and showing your toddler how to “give their plants some love.” Just prepare yourself for possible overwatering incidents.
Teach Them the Magic of Nature
Toddlers may not understand the science of gardening, but they love a good story. Show them how plants “wake up” when exposed to sunlight, water and care from you as their caretakers. Discuss worms and bees as helping hands in your garden. Create an air of fascination about it all for their enjoyment, and the early introduction to nature. Doing this will create greater involvement from them while sparking an appreciation of nature from an early age.
Lawn Mowers Are Fun, Too
While lawn mowers may seem as not the best type of toddler garden activity, there are safe and enjoyable ways to engage toddlers with this aspect of gardening. Begin by showing them how the mower works while emphasizing safety rules like staying at a safe distance and never touching its blades. If your child shows interest, consider giving them their own toy lawnmower to “help”. Not only will this create teamwork between you both but will help your child understand why garden maintenance is an important task. Creating positive associations between caring for lawn maintenance with teamwork and fun over time.
Build Lifelong Skills
Encourage Responsibility (Without the Pressure)
Gardening can be an excellent way to help form responsibility among toddlers while simultaneously relieving pressure from them. Remember that they’re still learning and may make mistakes along the way. Assign them simple tasks with low stakes like scattering seeds or picking weeds (even though they might confuse weeds with basil plants). Give plenty of praise even when things don’t go exactly according to plan. Remember it’s all part of the learning experience, not perfectionism.
Development of Fine Motor Skills
All those gardening activities aren’t only beneficial to your garden, it also assists your toddler’s development. Tasks such as pinching seeds, filling small pots with soil, and carefully positioning plants can strengthen hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills in children of any age.
Conclusion
While gardening may not always be perfect, it can create great memories and instill an appreciation of nature in your child. By setting them up for success and keeping expectations realistic, gardening becomes an enjoyable bonding experience that you both will treasure together. Who knows? Your toddler could soon be the next great horticulturist or at the very least an enthusiastic helper who enjoys playing in the dirt alongside you.