Gardening teaches students about fruits and vegetables, helping them to feel more comfortable and familiar with the world of fresh produce. This increases the likelihood that students will choose to incorporate healthy fruits and vegetables into their diets, rather than subsist on sweets and fast food. That said, if gardening were included in the school curriculum, students would have the opportunity to gain useful developmental skills while gaining additional exercises. In addition, gardening will help to review attitudes about certain foods.
For example, a student is more likely to try vegetables and fruits that they have grown. Later, this practice can help improve family meal choices. School gardens offer students a real-time view of how they are grown. There are different models for the operation of these orchards, but in many, children of different ages receive regular classes in the garden, learning how to grow, harvest and prepare a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Gardening also brings children together and creates a sense of community within the school system. It can also encourage team building from an early age, which will contribute much later in life. Gardening can be a very sociable activity. Children can learn to work together and will enjoy discussing the different types of flowers, and the anticipation of waiting for the flower to shoot through the ground first will encourage children to interact and participate.
Garden-based nutrition education can motivate school-age children to eat healthier and increase physical activity. The desire to eat healthier foods comes from what children learn in the garden. A vegetable garden can generate enthusiasm for eating fresh and perhaps locally grown fruits and vegetables. The process of planting their own seeds, watching them grow into plants, preparing the food grown, and finally eating them can give students a new and sustainable perspective on healthy eating habits.
Gardens can provide students with an opportunity to expand their knowledge and artistic appreciation as they draw something that is found in or based on nature or the natural environment. The school my youngest son went to had a flower garden for the children to enjoy and they had compost bins that each class contributed to. For a garden-based practical application of linear and area measurement calculation, students could plan the area of a garden plot and then calculate the suggested distance between seeds or seedlings. The exam period is known to cause a lot of stress for students and, in addition to other activities, gardening helps to recover when dealing with stressful circumstances.
Studies show that garden-based nutrition education improves students' eating habits by increasing their knowledge, preference and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. My children have helped me with my gardens and the youngest child especially likes to help in the garden and cultivate some things for their own education. You may not think they will benefit, but in a few years, as my wife remembers gardening with her father, they will remember their parents'. Gardens can be used as a means of self-expression through the creation and performance of music, and can help teach students to listen to, imitate and improvise sounds, patterns, and songs.
If you have children, this is a good time to involve them in the process, especially if your child's school doesn't teach gardening. Students can keep a science journal to record observations, collect data, and keep records and drawings of the garden. General gardening activities, such as planting, digging, weeding, and harvesting, can burn approximately 135 calories per half hour for a person weighing 125 pounds. It can take a long time for a child to spend weeks, although adult gardeners know that fruits and vegetables won't be ready a week after planting them.
Many children with special needs may have few opportunities for social interaction, but gardening with a group of students provides a safe place to interact with others and make friends. . .
