A garden of secrets
There are many activities that you and your toddler can do together. One of the best activity is gardening. Yes.., gardening. Well there is reason after all… gardening with children provides the perfect combination of skills and tasks to address the motor development. Gardening is a great physical development activity.
Young children will practice locomotors skills, body management skills and object control skills while they move from one place to the other carrying tools, soil and water. They will be moving their bodies using large muscles while learning to balance and manage objects too. Motor skills like whole-hand grasping and the pincer grasp (necessary skills for writing) are developed in gardening.
Sensory stimulation is another aspect of physical development that children will experience in a garden. Water is a critical part of gardening and, if your child enjoys nothing else, playing with the hose or the watering can could be a highlight. Feeling and learning different texture such as - of the soil or the plant leaves will help them develop the touch and feel senses . Different fragrances from flower can interest kids too.
Gardens are a visual explosion of colours, tones and shades. If your plants are edible then this is one of the few areas where you can safely test and enhance your child’s sense of taste. Children are always more willing to try a new food if they have been involved in the process of growing it.
Literacy skills is also a part of gardening. Kids learning the names of different plants and reading growth requirements for the seed or plant is a literacy activity. Another garden activity you can do with kids is making a map of your garden or your yard and labelling the plants in it.
Cognitive development is all about intellectual skills such as remembering and analysing information and predicting outcomes. You can work on the cognitive development of your toddler in the garden. You can ask open-ended questions to kids about what you have already done in your garden and what they think should be done next. By this routine you are helping them think through the processes of preparing the soil, planting, watering and weeding. This will teach them planning and help them strength their logical thinking skills.
Finally, working together with your children is a time that only you both can share, build bond and create memories from your experiences in the garden. You will learn a lot about your kid while they are learning a lifelong love of growing things. You will learn about what they think, what they like and dislike and how capable they really are.
Above all you will teach your child the art of giving. As kids spend time gardening they will learn how to look after a plant and nurture it. This will make them more patient. You and your toddler will enjoy every moment as your plant grows .Your plants will create a beautiful environment, whether they are in a garden, a raised bed or a pot. So to sum it up, gardening in child growth is an interesting, educational and social activity. Although growing a garden as a regular activity can take a while, the payoff is more than worth it!
