Here in Southwestern Ontario, spring is seemingly here after a weirdly cold April, nonetheless, we’re seeing people outside more and more, especially cleaning up their yards after winter. Enter amazing learning opportunity for a young child!
I’m clearly a fan of being outside, and getting back into the annual yard maintenance routine is something I actually look forward to, now too, does my 3 year old son. Recently we set out to clear up all the dandelions, and patch up the lawn with some seed and soil where needed.
We set out with our tools of the trade, including his own little wheel barrow of course to collect all the weeds. He was identifying specific things, using fine motor skills to pluck out the weeds (not exactly down to the root but nobody is perfect right?), he was sorting in his wheel barrow, counting as he went. Next came the seeds, and based on the amount he spread initially, we’re looking at a lot of new grass! Being as careful as he could with some coaching from dad, he eventually got the hang of spreading the right amount by hand. Lastly came a little bit of soil to top things off, using my old tree planting spade (perfect size for a 3 year old!) he would scoop some dirt and spread it where the low patches and seeds were. Again using skills listed above, also identifying different patterns in the grass, and continuing a positive conversation between us for the duration.
This whole activity took us about an hour or so as my lawn is not that big, but I could have done this all by myself in about 15-20 max. By allowing our children to participate these activities, we help them achieve more than just the skills already mentioned, but also one specific one being delayed gratification. Children and adults today have almost instant access to pretty much anything, and something as simple as taking care of some grass seed until it starts to grow can have more impact on a child than most know.
Get outside, you’re not only planting seeds in the ground, but planting amazing seeds of development in a young child’s fascinating brain.
Play. challenge. grow 