It’s Easier Than You Think to GROW
Environmental Stewardship in Our Children
No matter what we do, our kids want to have their noses glued to a screen – be it video, computer or television. Heck! Today’s kids have the strongest thumb muscles in human history! And the rest of their bodies just seem to atrophy with the lack of movement.
You want to peel your kid away from video screen? You want to instill an appreciation of nature, the environment, and their future?
The wonderment of watching a seed sprout, and a plant transform into something edible (that they normally only see in a can or a package) has a tremendous impact on a child. I’ve seen it with my own kids and the children I teach in outdoor classrooms at various educational school gardens. That’s why I do it.
With every class that tromps out into the garden, there are many students who don’t want to go back to the sterile classroom. They crave the outdoors and the discoveries there. The sights, smells, tastes and the sunshine captivate them! We need to give them more of that.
But, let me make one thing clear -
This is NOT Just About Eating Vegetables!
There are numerous articles on how growing food with kids will make them eat more vegetables while simultaneously getting them outdoors in the sunshine. And that is totally true! But I have learned that there is something much bigger going on here – and it is important.
Gardening with kids helps them understand nature and ecology and THAT gives them a better sense of where we stand in the big scheme of things.
They learn why everything we do can affect so many other things in nature. They appreciate how everything in nature is tied into everything else. And they better comprehend how the integrity of being organic and green is most important when nobody is looking. (Obviously, the people who work at Monsanto did not have this experience! Things might have been different if they did.)
So what I am saying is that growing something with a child can transform them into a steward of the earth. Growing something makes them care. And let’s face it, that’s pretty important in today’s world. So if you want your child to grow into a better environmentalist with appreciation for nature? Well…you can grow that!
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“You Can Grow That” is a new garden campain by C.L. Fornari, where on the 4th day of each month, garden writers post about something profound – like how gardening can change us and the world around us. Or…we write about our favorite plant. Ha! Whatever works!
If you are a garden writer with your own “You Can Grow That” post, PLEASE link to it in the comments below so we can all enjoy it! Thanks! Tweet using #youcangrowthat! hashtag.
Theresa Loe is the award- winning Co-Executive Producer & Canning Expert on Growing A Greener World TV. She blogs here about Living Homegrown®, local and fresh-from-the-garden. 
