Children are naturally curious and like to learn by doing and what’s better than playing in the dark?

Working in the garden, children can experience satisfaction that comes from caring from something over time and watching it grow while also learning about healthy eating.

If your child is a picky eater and doesn’t like vegetables, you can encourage them through gardening.

Benefits of Gardening for Kids

Promotes Healthier Eating

Gardening will encourage your children to eat healthier. Studies have shown that students involved in hands-on school gardening programs developed an increased snacking preference for fruits and vegetables. And when parents take the initiative to get involved in gardening with their kids, the results are even better. These studies show a link between growing food and increase food preparation at home as well as a 40% increase in consumption of fresh produce in adults.

• Growing Health Benefits Report
• Gardening with Kids and Healthy Eating
• School Gardening Programs Plant Seeds of Healthy Eating
• Gardening with Kids Gives Them Healthy Start
• Getting Kids Excited About Growing Their Food

Provides Moderate Exercise

Tasks like digging, raking, and turning compost use a lot of muscles in the body. Depending on the intensity of the activity, you could burn anywhere from 250-500 calories in an hour! Not only this, but the act itself teaches children about the patterns of healthy activity, and keeps them outside and away from a computer screen.

• Gardening and Food Growing for Healthy Weight
• Gardening Counts as Moderate to High Intensity Exercise
• Gardening and Fitness
• Gardening Builds Child’s Fitness and Well-Being
• School Gardens Grow Kids’ Activity Levels

Helps Build Confidence

Gardening helps your children feel more capable, as they realize what they can do when they nurture and grow something from a seed. Encourage them to make choices (ie. is there enough sunlight in this spot?) and journal the experience so they can look back on the journey.

• Gardening for the Soul 
• The Many Benefits of Gardening with Children
• Gardening Builds Healthier and Happier Kids
• Gardening Helping Troubled Minds
• Gardening Therapy Helps Children Grow

Relieves Stress

Gardening helps kids learn how to relax, and teaches them how to calm themselves. Research shows gardening not only has a calming effect on the brain, but benefits extend far beyond the act of gardening itself, such as a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol even after a recovery period.

• Gardening Promotes Neuroendocrine and Affective Restoration from Stress
• Promoting Health Through City Planning
• Benefits of Having a Family Garden
• Parents Gardening with Children: A Relationship Connector
• Planting Seeds Enriches Children’s Lives

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