Gardening for early childhood, what are the benefits?

Don't make gardening just a parent activity on weekends. Next time, you can invite your little one to join "hoes, hoes, hoes who plant corn in our garden". It doesn't have to be specific to plant corn, hmm . No matter what seeds you plant with your little one, in fact there are still many benefits of gardening for early childhood. Come on, find out more!

Diligent gardening for early childhood brings these benefits

As long as you continue to be supervised by parents, gardening has surprising benefits for your baby's growth and development.

1. Fostering interest in healthy eating

Get used to eating healthy should start early. Well, this is where gardening plays to introduce and foster children's interest in healthy foods. Research published by the Growing Health Benefits Report states that children who are diligent in gardening tend to choose fruit and vegetables as snacks.

In fact, research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that preschoolers tended to eat more fruit and vegetables from their own garden, compared to market-bought fruit or vegetables.

The reason is, one of the interesting things about gardening for children is curiosity about what they grow themselves. Therefore, gardening can be a solution if children are picky about food or have difficulty eating fruits and vegetables.

2. Increase endurance

You may be familiar with the jargon that says "Dare to be dirty is good". So in fact, this jargon has a point. Children who rarely play outside the house tend to be more susceptible to various diseases that weaken the immune system. For example, asthma, allergies, and other autoimmune diseases.

Inviting children to garden can be a fun way to train a child's immune system to be stronger. This theory is in line with the hygienic hypothesis which proposes that exposure to various types of microbes in the first few years of a child's life will strengthen their immune system.

Exposure to bacteria helps the child's body get used to detecting which microbes are good and bad, and also fights infections. By gardening, children will come into direct contact with the soil, which in fact becomes a "home" for various foreign microbiota.

3. Sharpening children's motor skills

Gardening is a very good physical activity to hone children's motor skills. When gardening, children are involved in many activities that involve their muscles and body coordination. Digging the soil with a shovel, pouring water, and moving the pot are small examples of actions that can stimulate his motor skills.

Children whose motor skills are continuously stimulated will grow to be active children. That way, blood circulation, breathing, and posture will get better. In fact, stimulating children's motor skills also helps improve children's creativity and intelligence as a whole.

4. Teach responsibility

Gardening teaches children the importance of responsibility by teaching it directly. The reason is, gardening is a sustainable activity. Children will be taught that after planting the seeds, they must continue to care for them painstakingly until harvest time comes. In order to produce results, the seeds that have been planted need to be cared for in such a way and cannot be abandoned.

5. Sharpen memory and focus

Another benefit of gardening for children is that it improves memory and focus. According to research published in the American Journal of Public Health, children who show a predisposition to ADHD can focus more when they are in a park or space outdoor all green.

Apart from that, gardening can also increase alertness and cognitive skills of your little one. Because gardening is a fairly complex job that helps children stay calm and focused.

To start gardening activities with your little one you can start by watering the plants every evening. Then slowly start getting the kids to plant chilies, tomatoes and flowers. The more often you and your baby spend time together gardening, the more quality time you spend together to increase closeness.