A veggie patch in your garden will teach them in a truly enjoyable form where food comes from and how to care for nature.
It will give them a sense of belonging or of connection with all that’s around us – nature, people, etc.
It will also help develop some crucial skills:
- observation (where is the caterpillar that ate my cabbage leaves?),
- gross and fine motor (handling tools and seeds)
- senses (smell, touch, etc.)
- and their patience (no darling, tomatoes are not ripe yet!).
Seeing their little fingers deposit a seed in the ground, water it and care for it will give you a fantastic emotional reward. Plus, you get to eat the food!
Kids love keeping busy and getting their hands dirty! As we live a more sanitised, modern, and globalised world than we ever had, children have gotten disconnected with earth, and where food comes from (nope, it doesn’t come from a packet!).