Learning Through Gardening

In these unprecedented times, change can be especially tough on younger children as they transition to online learning and at-home extracurriculars. If you have kids of your own, you may be struggling to find fun, educational activities to do with your family’s free time. While there are plenty of options, gardening is an awesome summer or fall hobby that can be used as a learning tool. There are plenty of benefits to teaching kids how to care for plants–let’s check them out! 

Learning Nutritional Value

Gardening is a great way to learn about nutrition in a hands-on way. Leafy greens like spinach, mache, and kale grow really well in the Garden Tower™ 2. Whatever you decide to plant, your kids can learn all about the health benefits of the food they’re growing! It can be a real struggle to get kids to enjoy healthy foods, but eating food they’ve grown can give them a sense of achievement.

Last year, students at Minot Forest Elementary School documented their harvest of leafy greens and other vegetables using a Garden Tower™ 2. The response was overwhelmingly positive from the kids according to guidance counselor Lisa Ottaviano. 

“I brought students outside during lunch to see the Garden Tower™ 2 and to sample greens,” says Ottaviano. “Almost all students were willing to sample and shockingly some had never tried lettuce or spinach before.”

While the classroom looks a little different this year for most students, you can still teach your kids the value of gardening in the comfort of your own backyard with the Garden Tower™ 2!

Taking Responsibility

A huge part of gardening is making sure that you’re caring for your plants properly. This makes it a great exercise to teach kids responsibility and patience. Kids will quickly learn that the plants won’t flourish if they aren’t watered and taken care of regularly. 

At the same time, patience is necessary while they wait for the plants to grow. Growing in your backyard with a Garden Tower™ 2 makes it so that your kids can keep track of their plants’ progress daily. They’ll quickly learn that it’s not an overnight process and the anticipation will make the harvest even more exciting!

Developing Social Skills

Especially when children get to garden with their family, the whole process can be a very socially enriching activity! That’s what makes the Garden Tower™ 2 the perfect learning tool for your kids as you plan activities at home this school year. You and your kids can work together and enjoy discussing the growing process of the different fruits and vegetables.

The Garden Tower™ 2 has been used by families nationwide and across Canada as a fun way to teach children the basics of gardening like plants, soil, worms, and the entire harvesting process.

Whether your goal is to grow fresh, delicious veggies or enrich your child’s learning experience, gardening is a fun and easy activity for kids and adults to try out while they’re stuck at home this year!

Learning all about Ecology

Growing a Garden with a Garden Tower® suppports many facets of ecological understanding through these processes and concepts:

• Growing plants from seed through maturity
• Composting processes and nutrient recycling
• Soil hydrology, water uptake and evapotranspiration
• Nutrient transport through soil and water
• Friendly worms and vermicomposting!
• And much more — Garden Towers are used in over 150 schools!  Contact us for curriculum examples and more information (support@gardentower.com)