Growing Together: The Benefits of Family Gardening
As the days grow warmer (mostly…) and the sun stays out a little longer (thank goodness!), it's the perfect time to dig into a new family activity—gardening! Whether you have a big backyard or a few pots on the patio, planting a garden as a family can be a fun, rewarding experience that grows more than just vegetables.
Here’s why we love gardening for the whole family:
1. Quality Time Outdoors
In a world full of screens and packed schedules, gardening creates a chance to slow down and connect. Whether it’s pulling weeds, planting seeds, or just checking to see what’s blooming, working together in the garden offers quiet, meaningful moments to chat, laugh, and learn.
2. Hands-On Learning for Kids
Gardening is a natural classroom. Kids can learn about science (life cycles, pollination), math (measuring plant spacing), and responsibility (remembering to water and weed). Plus, there’s nothing quite like the pride of growing something from seed to bloom—or snack!
3. Encourages Healthy Eating
When kids help grow their own fruits and vegetables, they’re more likely to try them. It’s true- you’d be shocked by how many kids we’ve had who start out saying “Eeew, I don’t like (insert type of vegetable/s)!” and then they fall in love with them, or at least taste them…we take all the pressure off and then smile to ourselves because this happens every.single.time. Suddenly, spinach is exciting if they picked it themselves! Gardening can open up a whole new world of healthy foods for the family table.
4. Boosts Physical and Mental Health
Digging, planting, and hauling soil are all great forms of physical activity. Plus, studies show that time in nature can reduce stress and boost mood—for kids and adults alike. Gardening offers a chance to unplug and unwind, with a little sunshine as a bonus. There is something magical about getting your hands dirty!
5. Teaches Patience and Gratitude
Gardening helps kids understand that good things take time. It encourages patience and teaches that nurturing something leads to growth—both literally and emotionally. See below for crops that grow faster, to help minimize the wait time.
Getting the soil ready.
A few ideas on how to start gardening with kids:
Plant things that grow quickly/chose larger seeds - Kids love to see seeds sprouting and often times they don’t have the patience to wait a long time (Carrot seeds are super tiny and hard for little hands to handle, they also don’t sprout very quickly). Depending on the season, chose seeds with a higher germination rate, such as radishes, lettuces, marigolds, zinnias and also seeds that are larger (easier for them to hold and also recognize), such as cucumber, beans, snap peas and sunflowers.
Snap peas ready to be planted
Incorporate fun books - “Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt” by Kate Messner is an excellent option to show kids what happens beneath the dirt when plants are growing and all the bugs that live under the ground that help the soil or “Tops and Bottoms” by Janet Stevens and “Planting a Rainbow” by Lois Elhert. There are so many great garden inspired books, check out your local library!
Plant a theme garden - You can plant a pizza garden, a salsa garden, a salad garden, a butterfly garden or even a tea garden!
Make it playful - Get garden gloves, shovels, watering cans, make mud pies, use plants and flowers to magic potions. If you have a compost pile with worms, let kids hold the worms, give them a magnifying glass and ask them to watch them closely, maybe tell them a few fun facts about worms.
Keep it simple, fun, and embrace and encourage being MESSY!
Let them pick out shovels, gloves, maybe even an apron!