Why You Should Teach Kids About Plants: The Benefits Of Knowing About Plants At A Young Age

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Plants are amazing and versatile organisms that impact our everyday lives. The fact is plants provide us with oxygen, food, clean water, energy, and more. They are also useful in their environmental conservation roles and even offer keys to solving issues such as world hunger and climate change!

We are all aware of the fact that plants are important members of our planet, but more importantly, we must also educate young children about plants in order for them to understand their importance as well.

Young children tend to be very inquisitive; they ask questions because they simply want to know. Children love to ask questions such as “Why is the sky blue?” or “How do we know the earth is round?” This desire to investigate and understand new things shows that our children are inquisitive and reflective. In short, children require learning opportunities in order for them to develop. Taking advantage of this opportunity by teaching children about plants at a young age will not only get them to understand how important plants are to the world, but it will also motivate them towards further learning and understanding about things beyond the sciences.

Happy father carrying a crate with flowers while his small daughter is helping him at garden center — photo from canva.com

The Benefits Of Knowing About Plants At A Young Age

Aside from learning math, practical life skills for kids like cooking and cleaning, and how to become responsible adults, children can also benefit from learning about the world around them. Introducing your child to plants at a young age can be an exciting learning experience for them. Children can begin to understand how the world of plants works and what their purpose is. The benefits of learning about plants at a young age are countless and include but are not limited to the following:

Children who are just beginning to learn about the world around them will have the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of different plants. Teaching your children about different plants will provide them with a broader understanding of nature and the world around them. By teaching your child about a large variety of plants, they will begin to appreciate the diversity of things that exist in the world and can begin to understand how everything around them works together.

Medium shot kid watering plant — photo from canva.com

Encouraging your children to engage in healthy practices is important as it can help to prevent serious illnesses such as obesity and heart disease. Furthermore, encouraging your child to eat fruits and vegetables can strengthen their bodies and enhance their immune systems. Introducing them to various plants that are healthy for the body can help children better understand health and wellness.

Also, plants are a great way to help children learn about responsibility. Children can be encouraged to take care of their plants and help them grow. Children need to learn that they have the ability to care for something and make it thrive on its own. Enhancing a sense of responsibility will help children to grow into more mature and responsible adults.

Children who learn about plants at a young age can have an enhanced level of curiosity which can help them to explore their surroundings further. When children begin to learn about the world around them, they understand what they will need to do to grow and make the most out of the world they live in. A passion for learning allows children to develop skills that motivate them toward better learning and understanding. This is one of the greatest benefits of teaching your child about plants at a young age.

Side view little kid holding lavender — photo from canva.com

What Are The Fun Ways to Teach Kids About Plants?

There are many ways to teach children about plants. Parents need to be creative when teaching their children about plants. Here are some great ideas you can use for your child:

1. Make Plant-Related Arts and Crafts

Everyone loves some good arts and crafts! It’s never too early to begin teaching your children that they can use their creativity in order to learn while also having fun. Your child will have the opportunity to get creative while learning about plants and how they affect the world. Here is a simple plant craft for teaching children about plants:

Recycling plastic bottles

In this plant activity for children, kids will use plastic bottles and paints to make their desired flowers! Here is the process of how to do it:

Gather your materials (soda bottles, paint, and scissors)
Using the scissor, cut around the soda bottle, about four inches from the cap, to keep the funnel-shaped part of the soda bottle.
To create the petals, have several cuts that begin from the mouth of your funnel and go to the bottle cap. Make sure the distance between each cut is right and balanced to retain the uniform-looking flower head.
Decorate your petals with paint, glitter, and anything else you have in your home.
Once your flowers are dry, tie them in a bunch or clip them with paper clips and tape!

2. Read Plant-Related Books

Nothing can beat the experience of reading a book. Reading books are great for helping children develop their literacy skills, enhance their vocabulary and learn about various plants. When it comes to reading books, let them try out the following options:

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert: This is a great book to teach your child about the colors of the rainbow and the different kinds of flowers and plants. Children will learn how to plant their own garden while enjoying this fun story!
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle: This is a classic children’s book that will teach your child how plants grow. This book is perfect for young kids just learning about the life cycle of plants and how they begin as seeds.

3. Engage in Hands-on Plant Experiments

There is no better way to learn about plants than by trying out experiments for yourself! Children will be amazed and excited as they see what happens when plants are involved.

You can provide kids with root viewers to teach them about root growth and watering or mushroom growing kits to learn about the dissimilarity between fungi and plants. These fun activities can help your little ones learn about plants in ways they cannot through nature alone. And doing experiments teaches them essential science principles and various ways of thinking.

4. Go Camping

Camping is a great opportunity to get children close and personal with nature. Kids will love spending time outside with nature and notice how plants are a huge contributing factor. When camping, you can teach your children about plants by letting them pick some wildflowers from the area or by talking to them about what each flower means. They’ll have fun learning about something new and empty out their minds through the art of conversation!

5. Gardening

There is always fun and learning in gardening. Whether planting a garden in your backyard or container gardening on a patio, there is always fun and learning. Children can help choose what type of plants to use and where to put them. They can also learn how to care for their plants, whether that means watering them daily or checking them every once in a while.

In conclusion, teaching children about plants is a great way to help them learn about healthy living and the fun things that plants have to offer. Helping your child learn about plants will help them become more curious about their surroundings and how the world works.

Author bio

Andrea Gibbs is the Content Manager at SpringHive Web Agency, where she helps create content for their clients’ blogs and websites. She is currently a blog contributor at Montessori Academy, a blog dedicated to helping parents with the ins and outs of parenting children within the Montessori tradition. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and her dog.