Why it's fun to garden with kids

I didn't mean to get so attached. I started gardening with kids at Dailard Elementary School in a planter that one other parent had set up irrigation for a few years back and moved on after his child finished that school year in the class next to the garden. With time, the kids and I have landscaped 3 planters (1 dry garden, one low water area that has benches to sit and one area that we irrigate during the school year about 1-2 times per week). My oldest daughter, now 15, was 6 and my youngest spent most of her time on my back in a pack pulling my hair as I'd work with the kids. My youngest is now in 4th grade and the garden is going strong. But now the kids from the darling, fresh-faced kindergarteners to the lumbering fourth grade boys have won me over with their love of new things, their eagerness to interact with nature (dirt in particular) and a desire to use their senses to learn more about the garden. My young charges are my master gardeners, and have taught me a lot. Though I'm not a teacher 9 to 5, but the co-owner of a video production company, I have learned a lot and taught them a lot in return. They always ask me how I learn so much about gardening and I tell them that I read books about gardening and that I learn by practicing in my own garden too. With this blog, I want to share some of the tips I've learned with interested parents and children...So they can grow their own beautiful and tasty environments together. Kids love drama and exaggeration in the garden. What child isn't fascinated by a huge sunflower or a sprawling bush that smells like peppermint? They also love the unexpected. Smelly sage is curious to them. They are eager to learn about the oils in the plants that repel other predators. Unexpected items in the garden like toys or sculptures intrique them and bring them joy. Even an old toy glued to a post can or sunken into grout can generate questions. "Who put that there?" "Can I touch it?" I can't tell you how many times kids have commented on the orange painted rocks one kid brought in about 5 years ago or the tumbled glass stones we glued to rocks that kids find every now and then and ask questions about. It's like they found buried treasure. And I just love this sense of wonder that kids bring to life. I want to amuse, inspire and educate kids and parents with this blog. You never know which kids will really like gardening...I can never predict it myself. But when certain kids like it, they really like it and my aim is to get kids that want to learn more the tools to become lifelong garden lovers. No matter how strong the interest, the garden is a place where kids can learn and exercise and interact with nature in a positive way.