Jayce Lambert
Gardener | Home Decorator
When Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, opened a new inpatient mental health unit, the healing garden on the grounds was no afterthought. Research shows that access to green space has a beneficial effect on children’s mental health. Getting outside is calming, and getting outside and doing something can be even more helpful.
The benefits aren’t limited to kids being treated in a hospital setting. Here’s how gardening can help the mental health of your child.
It Relieves Stress
Gardening is relaxing. It relieves stress, which helps mental health conditions. Just being near a green space is calming. And being outside in the sunshine can alleviate symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. That’s because researchers think the sun resets the body clock correctly. It also helps the body produce Vitamin D, the so-called “sunshine vitamin.” A deficiency of Vitamin D can cause symptoms of depression. So spending time outside in the garden helps the body create the Vitamin D it needs to reduce depression.
Gardening Reduces Depression
Lawn mowing, raking, and gardening can reduce depression, according to a 2018 survey published in the medical journal Lancet Psychiatry. This is good news for parents who aren’t interested in going for a run around the park. A child who can spend time working in a garden is also getting the aerobic benefits she would get from a leisurely bike ride. Kids with mental health issues can lower their own anxiety by picking up a hand spade and a hose on a regular basis. The Centers for Disease Control recommends about 2.5 hours of moderate activity a week, and gardening counts toward that.
It Creates a Sense of Purpose
Between school and afterschool activities and family and friends, you might think your child is purpose-filled. But those activities may not be as engaging as you had hoped. Or they may be a source of stress for your child, which only worsens many mental health symptoms. Gardening can create a sense of purpose, without some of the emotional baggage that may be associated with other things in your child’s life. Doctors who looked at gardening as a mental health intervention found it allows people experiencing problems to improve their cognitive function. By increasing clarity, gardening also helps kids develop new skills and a sense of belonging. There’s something especially rewarding about growing your own food. All these benefits can help improve the mental health of your child.
Being outside benefits everyone. It’s one easy way to improve your child’s sense of well-being. Combine those benefits with the results of regular aerobic exercise and creating a sense of meaning, and gardening can really help the mental health of your child. Check with your child’s care provider to see how it can supplement the therapy or medication he or she may be taking.
About Jayce Lambert
Jayce Lambert is a garden care extraordinaire and home decorator. She has been gardening since she was a child and loves to spend her weekends teaching her grandchildren all about growing a vegetable patch. You can find her sharing her crops and her decorating ideas with her friends and neighbors.
To see more, view all posts by Jayce Lambert here.
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14 Comments on “How Gardening Can Help the Mental Health of Your Child”
Very interesting article! It creates a sense of purpose and also a sense of responsibility for plant life, and care of nature!
Gardening sure is such a therapeutic exercise, and children should be around plants and understand their importance in the environment ,also planting seeds and watering plants can really keep them engaged and is a great way to keep them outdoors with reduced screen time. But making sure they have a mosquito repellent on is important, i have been using the natural mosquito repellent by the moms co. and is an amazing product for babies. Highly recommended!
I love the idea of our grand kids helping in the garden. Gardening is also a good survival skill.
I love to garden!! It really does relieve my stress!! Thanks for sharing!
I think this is so true. I know gardening helps me and I spend hours and hours iny gardens. Our winter is long here in Vermont and I am outside as as the weather warms up.
I love to share gardening with my kids.
and the way things are going, farming may be a necessary skill
It’s a good thing my ex gardens with the kids. I have absolutely no green thumb. Plants die if I just come within 2 feet of them, I swear. Lol
My daughter loves to help me with the garden, especially now because shcool is at home right now. It gives her something to do and we can bond together as well.
My granddaughters love to help in the garden. It helps with getting them to eat the vegetables we pick too.
This is great. I loved reading it.
This is great information. I didn’t know that gardening helps with so much. Thank you for sharing
I would like to start gardening for all the benefits, especially stress relief.
We had to work in the in the garden when we were little but was fun. i loved helping with the canning too. it is exciting to watch them grow.