Developing life skills in childhood is important as it lays the foundation for children to become well-rounded, competent, and resilient individuals. Skills such as responsibility, patience, problem-solving, and social interaction help equip children with the tools needed to navigate daily life. Regular gardening activities provide such a context for children to not only learn about life cycles and how things grow, but to also provide opportunities for learning skills that will help equip them for the complexities of everyday life.
Responsibility:
For a garden to thrive and be productive it needs to be cared for. Plants need checking every day.
Do the plants need water and/or fertiliser?
Have pests and diseases started to appear?
The plants might be okay, but there might be some weeds that need pulling.Â
The plants may have matured, been harvested and/or removed so compost needs to be added to replenish the soil.
When children have learned these lessons and begin to undertake these tasks themselves, they are demonstrating responsibility for their garden and the environment.
Responsibility is also learned when children discover what happens if they don’t keep on top of gardening tasks. Plants may die, pests and diseases may occur, weeds may become overgrown. The result of neglecting their garden teaches them that they need to be consistent in their care for the plants. Gardening teaches children about long-term commitment and responsibility as a plant takes a long time to grow and mature.
Patience:
Gardening takes time. Nature cannot be hurried. Plant growth cycles teach children the length of time it takes for a seed to turn into a mature plant. Depending on the plant, it takes approximately 7 - 14 days for a seed to germinate, and approximately 90 - 180 days for flowering or maturing so they are ready to harvest. This means learning to wait and be patient.
Social interactions:
When gardening in a group, social skills may be learned. There might be turn-taking and sharing to access tools or gain space to work in the garden bed.
Gardening can also be the subject of shared interest. Conversations with adults and their peers about what they are doing/growing in the garden help children develop their social interaction skills.
Problem-solving and critical thinking:
If there are problems in their garden, like pests and/or diseases, they will need to problem solve to work out what might be causing the issue. Here they will engage critical thinking skills about what they already know and are doing, and what they might need to change fix the problem.
Healthy soil equals healthy plants, and the more aware a child becomes about the importance of nurturing the soil, the more success they will achieve. Their solutions to improve the soil might include composting and worm farming. Both systems convert waste to useable by-products for the garden that will increase the health of the soil and reduce their impact on the environment.
Environmental awareness:
Changing weather patterns means adapting to the conditions. Perhaps this means installing a water collection system for watering their garden to reduce the load on water supply during the Summer. It might mean learning about the importance of mulch, not only for water preservation but also to protect the roots of plants and provide food for the thousands of microorganisms that live in the soil.
Confidence:
The more often a child gardens the more confidence they will gain in their own ability. This includes having their own tools that are the right size for them to easily use. It also means beginning with plants are quick and easy to grow, such as radishes, lettuce and spinach. As their confidence in their gardening ability increases, they can start to grow plants that are a bit more challenging and take more time to grow until ready for harvest, like carrots and broccoli.
Gardening on a regular and ongoing basis provides a meaningful context for children to learn valuable life skills, that are transferable to other aspects of their lives. When they garden, they develop responsibility and patience. They learn problem-solving and critical thinking skills and engage in social interaction. Gardening offers a wealth of life skills for children that go beyond just planting and harvesting.
If you would like to know more about how I can help you to develop your gardening curriculum in your centres, or you would like to know more about education for sustainability and the three pillars, then please contact me on anita@growingkiwigardeners.co.nz.
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