Plant care 101: Share the love of plants with kids

The joys of gardening are truly a self-rewarding experience — but sharing them with a child? Invaluable. Teaching the next generation the importance of plant care is so crucial, from understanding self-sustenance to appreciating nature. A child learns patience, a skill and a hobby, as well as fundamentals of life in its purest form. And preparing these elements so that they can appreciate them is something we are here to help with. Our guide breaks down how to make lessons and activities accessible and awesome. So, pull out your gardening gear and get ready to share the world of plants with your little one.

Be a plant care and garden guide

Helping a child learn to garden and grow is easier when you have access to handy material. And we want to present you with the best information possible! To keep up with our monthly tips and tricks for plant care trends and ideas, explore our Gardening tips page. There you’ll find a variety of guidance and tips on individual plant care needs, to general rules of (green) thumb. For additional resources, take advantage of our free Gardening 101 e-book. (Sign up to our newsletter here and receive your free copy, plus a 10% discount for your first order from our online store!) The guide contains information on fertiliser, garden pests, and indoor plants. You’ll be sure to brush up on your plant parent knowledge while getting your little sprout ready to take on the exciting world of gardening.

7 things to tick off on a kiddies plant care checklist

Follow these seven points on preparing lessons and activities for your little one to enjoy their learning experience.

1. Make it fun and exciting

Imagine everything seen through the eyes of a child. Think of using adventure, colour, excitement and motivation. When you can take the magic of nature and present it in a way that sparks their interest and intrigues them with curious oddities, their desire to learn more skyrockets. Amazing fun facts to gross novelties — include them all in your time together. They will remember even more when they have a chance to be as hands on as possible.

2. Shrink it down to size

Make gardening manageable and accessible for a child with tools designed for their scale. They won’t feel frustrated and will be more likely to pick up a handle they feel comfortable using.

3. Teach the basics

When teaching the world of gardening to little ones, keep in mind to cover all the basics. Take concepts of life cycles, energy sources, photosynthesis and nutrition and break them down so your child can grasp them. They don’t have to be elaborate, but simple enough to explain and can be used as a foundation which you can later build their knowledge upon for future lessons.

4. Get crafty and decorate

Allow your child some artistic license and personalisation in your lessons. Whether it’s creating a flower bed with little decorated name tags or painting planter pots, the possibilities are endless. You can even enjoy a fun recycling project by creating a bird feeder out of a soda bottle or making a scarecrow from garden refuse.

5. Use digital devices and resources

In today’s world, children are more technology-savvy than ever! This means you can adjust their lessons as such. Look for plant identification apps, garden calendars and even online interactive sites to engage and provide another dimension for their learning experience. Your child is more likely to take initiative and do their own research when they can access fun resources.

6. Bring gardening indoors

Just because the weather changes, doesn’t mean the action has to stop. Your child can appreciate the joys of plant care all-year around when you bring in plants to the home. Think of kitchen herb gardens, indoor plants and window sill planters.

7. Stay enthusiastic

When your child sees your joyful daily efforts in gardening and plant care, they will want to participate in the activity. For a fun shared experience, while your child enjoys their own special monthly plant box from Plantland’s Little Seedlings Garden Club, you can get in on the action with Imbali’s plant subscriptions. You can choose from either our Succulent Box, Flowering Box, Roses Box, Proudly SA Box or Indoor Plant Box. With monthly surprises to look forward to, you both will have such fun unwrapping a shared experience.

Get going, get growing

Here is to a new frontier of fun for the family with plant care. May your lessons and activities create great memories and flourishing plants. For more information on our plant boxes or plant care tips, contact us.