Easy and Fun Ways to Teach Children about Flowers and Gardening
If you’re a parent or you’ve at least been around kids for a while, you will agree to one thing. Those tiny lovely bundles of joy can be quite selective on what makes them happy. However, some things tend to elate them the most, from toys to cuddles, undivided attention, creative structures, and, of course, among other things, flowers!
Young ones are often drawn to blooms, thanks to the irresistibly beautiful colours and captivating fragrances some flowers produce. As a matter of fact, flowers give kids an opportunity to learn about nature, plants, biology, and the beauty of life.
With this in mind, how can you teach your little angels about flowers and gardening – the process through which they’re created? Here are some tips on how to do it so it seems easy and fun.
Use Flower Decorations and Gifts Often
Does your kid have an upcoming birthday party? How about decorating your home or the party venue with flowers? On this front, spring flowers are specifically great not only for birthdays but also during celebrations such as Easter, which kids tend to love the most, especially if they have a Christian background.
You could be surprised if your kid asks you the name of the flowers in the vases and why they look so pretty. Better yet, you could go for flower-themed treats and presents, including the cake, cookies, candies, and other things that kids love.
Take Them Places
The best thing about flowers is that they’re all around us most of the time. However, most flowers are seasonal, and some can only be seen in certain geographic locations. Now, kids love joy rides. This is something you could use to help young ones learn about blooms and gardening or even develop passions related to these disciplines.
Consider taking them for green outings and frequent visits to parks and botanical gardens where they can bond with nature. Most garden parks also have tours and workshops for children if you care to check out their website.
When you’re not on a trip to a botanical garden or flower museum, you could have the kids name and identify the flowers they see when walking around the neighborhood.
The more common perennials like hibiscus, pink bougainvillea, and shoe flowers can be easy to spot, not forgetting seasonal blooms such as chrysanthemums and golden showers. From ginger flowers, lilies, and roses, many supermarkets, and wet markets also showcase exotic blooms that kids often get attracted to.
Garden with the Kids
Last but not least, gardening with your kids can be an awesome way to help them learn to appreciate the beauty of nature. Furthermore, it is a fun activity that also keeps you active, mentally, and physically.
The best part is that it gives you an opportunity to teach the little guys what flowers and plants need to grow, including sunlight, water, fertilizer, and other factors that plants need to flourish.
The renowned home of outdoor living contributor Sarah Wilson recommends getting a little wittier and incorporating games, garden dens, treasure hunts, outdoor movies, and sundials, among other things that kids find entertaining.
When old enough, they might eventually want to dig deeper and ask you about sepals, stamens, petals, calyx, pistils, and other parts that make a flower.
Get Creative
Art classes can also help kids understand flowers and gardening better without much hustle. From sketching to messy drawings, it is also how kids develop writing skills and other passions according to Walsall’s Early Childhood Area Director, Ann Stubbs.
Depending on how old a child is, they could start with tracing outlines, eventually progressing to using oil paints, crayons, and watercolour flower art. Furthermore, some parents and teachers go out of their way and extract flower petal pigments, producing natural paints for their kids to use.
While children love flowers, it is not always a universal trait. As with anything else, some kids need a little nurturing to grow their interest in blooms and how they come to be. It can be a daunting task, but the above few tips should help make it easy and fun to help youngsters embrace flowers and gardening.