The family backyard is filled with opportunities to teach children about nature, plants and animals. When planning a home garden, try to include children’s participation by allocating a plot or two specifically for them. Involve them in all stages of a plant’s life cycle and they will have invaluable lessons about flowers, fruits and vegetables that last a life time.
Here are some great tips to begin backyard lessons for kids.
Provide Child-sized Gardening Equipment
Kids will enjoy working in the home garden more if they are given tools and equipment that match their sizes. So give them child-sized equipment such as a trowel, fork, hand rake, watering can wheelbarrow and gardening gloves to make things easier and more fun for them. Assign a special spot or rack to hold these little items and teach children to clean and return them to their rack after use.
Grow a Variety of Plants
Try to grow a variety of plants with children in the backyard. Plant native flowers as well as some imported varieties. When the time is right, show them how to cut the flowers and arrange them in vases. Old clean mineral or soft drink bottles are ideal as vases for kids since smaller arrangements are more suitable for them.
Reserve some space to grow vegetables too. Easy-to-grow vegetables include lettuce, tomatoes, snow peas and spring onions. Herbs such as basil, fennel and sage can also be planted. Another plus of having a vegetable plot is that kids seldom have any problems eating vegetables that they have grown and picked themselves.
Teach Children the Names of Plants
Teach children the correct names of flowers, vegetables and herbs that are being grown in the garden. Soon, the kids will be able to name all the vegetables served at dinner and the pretty flowers they see in flower shops and all over the neighborhood. Having plants of various colors, textures and sizes also provides good avenues to teach young kids to use adjectives that describe them – green leaves, big fruits, long stems, rough tree barks, thorny plants, etc.
Use Plants for Crafts
Plants in the backyard can be used to make crafts as well. Seeds, flowers, leaves can be dried, pressed and stuck on scrapbooks. Again, this is a good way to learn the names of plants. Some tree barks can also be used to paint things on them. Parents can refer to art and craft books to get more ideas on using plants for crafts.
Rear Animals in the Backyard
If the backyard is large enough, consider rearing some small farm animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, ducks and geese. Younger children can feed the animals while older children can learn to clean out pens and cages. These little chores teach kids about responsibility, compassion and kindness to animals.
Backyard lessons for kids are easy to develop. To pique their interest, first provide children with child-sized gardening tools. Then grow a variety of plants and teach children the proper names of the plants. Kids also benefit from using plants for crafts and rearing animals in the backyard.
Those who find this article useful may also like to read Backyard Fun for Kids, Backyard Safety for Kids and Backyard Birthday Parties for Kids.
References:
Seldin, Tim. How to Raise an Amazing Child. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2007.
Fallows, Carol and Collier, Shayne. A Common Sense Guide for Australian Parents. New South Wales: Murdoch Books, 2004.
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