Planting a garden to encourage my kids to eat healthy!

Genesis posted August 19, 2019

I want to teach my kids how to eat healthy and care for their environment so we want to start a small garden. We would like to make this an ongoing activity similar to a community garden. Any suggestions or guidance would be great help!

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Michele posted August 19, 2019

A family or community garden is a great way to teach your kids to be more aware of where there food comes from and what they are eating. Growing your food or part of your meal is motivation to try new healthy foods without all the push back or rejection from the kids. They also learn a whole lot from actually caring for the plants. You can make a care schedule with each person doing tasks to help out, and use math and science as you track plant growth. Once plants bud or fruit falls, you can dissect these parts and learn more about the inner-workings of plants. It is a great idea to plant fall and Thanksgiving related fruits and veggies at the end of summer around back to school time. This will set you up for a project at the beginning of the school year and a fine harvest in the fall!

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Alexis posted August 19, 2019

Depending on your kids’ ages, you may try to tie in a story to your gardening project. Eric Carle’s books like The Tiny Seed and The Very Hungry Caterpillar prompted us to start experimenting with gardening. When the kids were younger, we started off with transplanting succulents and starting small egg shell seedlings. The twins really enjoyed the smells and textures of the soil and new materials while the adults got an opportunity to beatify the yard and teach our kids. Using every opportunity as a lesson really helps paint a whole picture for kids. Once they get older, you can begin planting the seed for them to think about where their food is coming from, who is preparing it, and how it gets to their bellies.

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Kori posted August 27, 2019

I love this idea! I take my children to workshops at The Home Depot where we have worked on many fun projects for our home that are also educational. You should check with your local major home improvement store that has a garden center. The personnel in that department should be able to provide you with specifics to start planting your vegetable garden including the materials, tools, step-by-step instructions, maintenance and care.

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Paula posted September 3, 2019

I absolutely love this idea! I've recently started bringing my kids to the Farmers Market with me, so that they can see and interact with all beautiful fruits and veggies there. I'm trying to teach them more about how to support local farmers, enjoy a range of different types of fresh foods, and also be more conscious about the environment. Unfortunately we don't have a place to grow our own garden, but I'm definitely going to look into finding a community garden we can go to, and look up the other suggestions shared.

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Jessica posted September 27, 2019

I did this with my kids a couple months back and peaked their interest by actually creating a worm farm first. My kids love dirt and playing with worms and then I added a compost and last a garden to show them the whole ecosystem.

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Planting a garden to encourage my kids to eat healthy!

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