Studies found children in schools that encouraged gardening became more resilient, confident and lived healthier lives. They not only took challenges of weather, patience, and helping a plant grow, they also became less afraid of bugs!
And gardening also helped teach about healthy living and healthy eating, with children more willing to try new vegetables if they had grown their own crops, they said.
Dr Simon Thornton Wood, director of science and learning at the RHS, said: "As the new coalition government considers a new approach to the primary curriculum, we hope they acknowledge the striking conclusions of our research and that gardens enable a creative, flexible approach to teaching that has significant benefits.
Schools which integrate gardens into the curriculum are developing children who are much more responsive to the challenges of adult life."
Read the full story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10427338.stm.
Source and thanks to news.bbc.co.uk.
Nigel Denby comments:
I couldn't agree more- we have seen some brilliant work in Nurseries and Children's Centres who use allotments, small gardens or even pot gardening to help children learn about gardens, food and health. Wouldn't it be great if we could be sure that every child in the country didn't think that carrots came from Asda!
