Young people see gardening as something people do later in life as they enter retirement. They are more interested in playing inside than going outside in the garden. But there are so many benefits to getting the next generation outside doing a spot of gardening. For one thing, it’s highly beneficial to their mental health. Being in the fresh air does wonders for your mood and can relieve stress while you are gardening. Getting physical while gardening will keep them fit and healthy.
Also, getting young people to garden teaches them about responsibility and hard work. They also will reap the rewards when their plants and vegetables flourish and they feel proud of their achievements. However, it’s difficult to encourage young people to get outside in the garden. Therefore, here is how to attract young people to start gardening.
Make the garden a fun and appealing place for them
One of the top ways you can encourage young people to start gardening is to make the garden more appealing. You want them to see it as a cool and fun place where they want to spend more time. If it’s just got a few plants, they won’t want to spend time out there. Therefore, fill the garden with different features to ensure they actually want to spend time in the garden. They will want to look after it themselves as they will love the area.
For instance, you might want to get a nice table and chairs where they can hang out in the garden. Or even a garden bench from Sloane and Sons Garden Benches where they can relax with their phone or a cold drink. You could add quirky features such as pizza ovens and hot tubs which will also encourage them outside. As they will enjoy spending time out there, they are more likely to help out and keep the garden looking nice. After all, it will be one of their favourite places when they are at home.
Bring a sense of competition to gardening
Young people love a good competition. It brings a sense of fun and anticipation to an activity. Therefore, if you want to attract young people to start gardening, you should make it more of a competition. For instance, you could start a competition on who can grow the best vegetable or fruit in the garden. Or you could make a bet who can tend to the most plants in the garden. Bringing a competition element to gardening will make it a lot more fun and young people will want to get involved.
As a family, it’s great to have a bit of friendly competition to keep everyone thriving and learning. If you add a reward to the competition, it will encourage your family to all get involved to see who will be the winner.
Spark their interest with the results
It’s always a good idea to show young people the final result. After all, if they don’t know what they are doing gardening for, they are unlikely to want to get involved. Therefore, you should spark their interest by showing what they can create. As RHS website reveals, young people become hooked on growing if they witness results quickly.
Therefore, it’s worth showing them produce you have grown yourself in the garden. If they taste some fresh strawberries or munch on some home-grown carrots, they are more likely to want to grow some themselves. If you tell them about different foods they could try growing themselves, they are likely to get more excited and will want to get involved themselves.
Give them a sense of responsibility
Kids always want to feel like they are independent. They feel like they are nearly a grown up and can take care of themselves. Therefore, you can make gardening more attractive to young people by giving them a sense of responsibility. If they feel like they are in control of their own gardening experience, they are more willing to give it a go and take charge. They will feel like you trust them enough to take care of the plants so they will be extra careful when tending to the garden.
As it says on, Bonita & Estero reveals digging, planting seeds and watching the plants grow gives young people a sense of purpose and responsibility. Therefore, give your kids jobs and watch them start to love gardening. You will find they will soon ask to go out and work in the garden if they feel they have a sense of freedom.
If you are looking for more gardening tips check out Laura's amazing blog over at Suburban Mummy Uk. You will love her site.
If you are looking for more gardening tips check out Laura's amazing blog over at Suburban Mummy Uk. You will love her site.
