Gardening With Your Child, Tots & Tykes

TOTS & TYKES

GARDENING

with your child Many parents struggle with getting their kids to eat adequate servings of vegetables. Gardening with your kids teaches them where their food comes from, and can be an integral part in teaching them to accept and become more familiar with vegetables and so much more!

Kids love getting their hands in dirt and touching and feeling things; while planting seeds and/or seedlings they get to do both!

It can also provide precious outdoor family time together in the sunshine. Gardening is a screen-free activity that incorporates fun physical activity: carrying watering cans, digging and moving soil, filling and pushing a wheelbarrow.

Even if you’re not an avid gardener or don’t have much outdoor space, you can still expose your child to gardening-type activities.

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GARDENING ideas

This tip is from our Happy Mama Mentor Andie, RD, CLC and mom to Soren & Addison Also available to chat at: happyfamilyorganics/chat

TIPS TO GET GARDENING 1

Build (or buy) a small raised bed for your backyard. This can be as small or large as sunlight and your outdoor space allows.

2

Plant some easy-togrow veggies like cherry tomatoes or herbs in small pots in a sunny spot. Have your child water and care for the plants as they watch them grow.

3

Consider visiting or joining a community garden where your little one can see others gardening.

They'll be encouraged to pitch in and enjoy the "fruits" of their labor.

4

Take trips to your local gardening center where you can point out a variety of seeds and seedlings you could choose to grow.

5

Find seasonal “pick-yourown” fruit farms that often involve hayrides and seeing first-hand how food is grown.

6

Visit a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm, local farm stand, or farmers market where kids can see, touch, and feel fresh fruits and veggies.