Monday, November 30

Encouraging kids for gardening

Gardening is a great experience and it is never too early to pass the joy of gardening to your little one. Plus, in this era where children prefer to be indoors, it can be a great way to stay outdoors, learn about nature, and make some friends. The challenge for the parents is getting their kid to involve and build long-lasting connections between gardening and kids.


Smart Tips for Encouraging Kids for Gardening


Make it interestingFor engagement of kids, the fun angle is really important. So, do take their opinion and keep their interests in mind. Kids find an activity interesting when their ideas are considered and implemented.
                                          
encouraging-kids-for-gardening
Encourage kids for gardening and make them eco-friendly.


Give them their kitYou can gift your child with a gardening kit on their birthday or a festival. The tools should be appropriate to their size and strength. A lot of bright colored options are available in the market. Do include a watering can since children love playing with water.

Choose plants that are easy to growTomatoes, mini cucumbers, peas, radishes, and sunflowers are easy options which will grow relatively faster. Cumbersome plants initially will dissuade the kids from engaging further.

Assign a section of the gardening area You may even assign a section of the area to them which will inculcate ownership and responsibility among the kids with respect to the maintenance of their space.


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Fun activities in the garden Get involved with the kids to make handicrafts that will get them interested. A birdhouse is an interesting idea. You can also reuse/ recycle discarded CDs, foil, brooms to make scarecrows. Ice-cream sticks can be used to name the plants. Old tires can be used as plant protectors. Besides, you can also paint pots together. The kids can be motivated to grow plants in them.

Plant flowers Flowers attract ladybugs and butterflies. Children are intrigued by natural insects and flying creatures so this will encourage them to spend some time in the garden with these friends of nature.

Have planting competitions A competition among kids for planting flowers or cucumbers is a great idea to get them going. Guide them in the process and see how they fare.

Show kids how to compost It is a learning experience for kids to see how waste things from the kitchen can be used in the garden and help in the growth and development of the plants.
                                  


Let the little ones do the watering Yes, since kids love to play with water, they shall lovingly take up this task. Make a watering schedule and enjoy seeing the eco-friendly kids do the homework.

Gift your child this beautiful connection with nature.





Monday, November 23

Gardening – A life skills teacher for kids

Gardening can be a hobby for many and a full-time occupation for some. However, for kids, gardening can be a life skills teacher though, inculcating an interest in gardening might be a challenge for any parent. If you are still not sure about the benefits of teaching your kid the art of gardening, read on to know why the connection between gardening and kids is so important.

Valuable Takeaways for kids through Gardening


Patience – Patience is indeed a virtue that is put into practice while planting the seeds, waiting for them to germinate, providing it with the right nutrition and finally seeing your efforts bear fruit. Hence, gardening will help your kid understand that often they need to be patient to get desired results.         
                        
Gardening with kids- so many benefits to reap!


Discovering new things – For kids, nature can be like a box of surprises where they discover how does it feel to interact with Mother Nature, how waste from the kitchen can act as a fertilizer for the plants and the worms make growing to happen. Or how new plants can grow from the seeds of the fruits of the old plants.

Hope – Along with patience, hope is another life skill learned through gardening. When you involve your little one in planting a tomato plant, they will hope to have red tomatoes in some time. Parents do need to be vigilant and help the kids to obtain positive results initially so that they can learn to hope for the best with the efforts put in.


                         Garden Hanging Pot Planters,Plant Container - Set of 6


Admiration for nature – Gardening teaches the kids to love nature and its elements. Be it the flowers, butterfly, or the ladybug or even the worms, each one has its importance in the chain of nature.

Being responsible – Another lesson for the kids who engage in gardening is responsibility. Watering the plants on a timely basis, fertilizing, keeping away pests from the plants, etc., develops ownership amongst the kids.            


making kids responsible and hardworking with gardening


Learning to go green – With lifestyle getting busier across the generations, pollution is also increasing. Therefore, gardening emphasizes the need to enjoy the blessings of nature, go green, and advocates the growth of plants and vegetables around us. The activity helps them to become eco-friendly kids.

Growing your own food - Growing your own veggies in your own garden and relishing them too is fun for sure. It’s motivating for kids to grow for self-use and learn to enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

Growth is a result of hard work – Gardening teaches this important lesson of life – that growth in one’s life is not possible without hard work and effort.

With so many life skills to imbibe, kids must be involved in gardening.  So, get set go…learn while you grow!   


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Monday, November 2

Eco friendly ways to clean post-festival mess

Festivities and celebrations are in full swing. Digging into sweets, buying clothes for kids and family, decorating the house, gifting to loved ones- all these are part of festivals. How about being socially responsible for this festive season? If it is a ‘thumbs up’ from you, there is no dearth of the various ways to go about the after-festivity cleanup in an environment-friendly manner.

Eco-friendly ways to clean the post-festival mess

Not everything needs to be disposed of after festivals are over. Several things can find a place in your home in a distinct way, check how-

Use the colored sawdust and flowers as mulch



Clean-post-festival-mess
Re-use the sawdust 


The colored sawdust and flowers that beautify the rangoli / colorful decoration of your home floor can also fertilize your garden area after rotting. Spread it evenly in the space adding nitrogen fertilizer to it for the nitrogen consumed by the micro-organisms during the rotting process.

Use decorative items to adorn your home space 


The ornaments from the idols created in festivals can be re-used for fancy dress competitions of your children or even to decorate the dollhouse of your daughter. The titbits prove very handy while making handicraft items with kids. 

                                                  

Vegetable peels make great compost material


The delicacies that you prepare for your loving kids during the festivities comprise a variety of vegetables and fruits. The peels of these make very effective and natural compost for growing plants, trees, and vegetables. So make your soil fertile at the expense of waste organic material!

Comfortable sawdust bed for your pet 


The colored sawdust of rangoli can also be used to keep your pet comfortable. You can either spread it over the sleeping area of your pet or fill it in a piece of cloth and sew it to make comfortable bedding.

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Repurpose mud lamps


Whether the plain mud ones or the terracotta ones, they can be reused for lighting near the tulsi plant (holy basil) or in the prayer room for daily worship.



The lamps can also be painted by kids and can serve as a decorative piece to brighten up your home as well as your backyard.  

Don’t throw, donate food instead

With so many families and children sleeping hungry and suffering from malnutrition, throwing away food is a bad idea. Instead, donate the cooked leftovers. There are a number of NGOs that collect extra food and distribute it to the needy.

With these post-festival eco-friendly cleanup measures, you and your kids can surely add value to each celebration. Pledge to enjoy the festive season responsibly, safely, and fully; sharing smiles!

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