Green Friday for Parents!

Well, another Friday is upon us and another Green Friday post is here. I have read and experienced the fact that children really take pride in what they can do themselves, so my husband and I decided that our children would really benefit from helping in a garden, a very small garden. On Sunday we decided as a family that we were going to plant our very own garden and grow our very own food. We took the children to our local store and purchased all of the things that we would need to plant our garden. We let them help us pick out the soil, fertilizer, plant food, seeds that they wanted to plant, tomato plants, and of course some Dora and Diego gardening tools.



After dinner on Sunday, we all headed out to the backyard to start our garden. Our garden is a tiny little garden because our kids are just 2 and 3 years old. I think that the best part of planting the garden for the kids was being able to play with the dirt AND water at the same time. My son who is 2 is not quite ready to really understand how things grow, but he sure loves helping water the plants. My daughter, on the other hand, is 3 and a half and she really gets it. As we were planting the garden on Sunday, she went into a little speech about how our plants were going to need sunshine, water, and LOVE! How sweet is that! I have to admit that I am pretty excited about our little garden. This is the first time I have had a garden and I am certain that I am going to learn just as much as my kids do. And I must add that I am definitely looking forward to a "fresh-from-the-garden" tomato sandwich in about 10 weeks!



So here are the things I am hoping to teach my preschoolers:

1. That food doesn't come just from the supermarket.

2. The responsibilities of caring for a garden that will need to be tended to daily (with our help of course).

3. Patience as gardens do not grow overnight.

4. Most importantly, if you take care of the earth, the earth will provide yummy treats for us to eat!



I know that this post isn't exactly on the "baby" front, but I hope that you can use this information to get your family outside and planting something. Whether it be a small flower, a small garden, or even a tree, this will prove to be a great experience in teaching your children how to care for the earth. Happy Green Friday!



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