Children are naturally curious about almost everything. A great bonding experience to have with your child(ren) is to teach them about something you love and are passionate about. If you’ve found yourself on the Gaia Herbs website, there's a good chance you're passionate about your health, plants and herbal products, and you care about the well-being of our planet. Teaching your kids from an early age to also love the earth and to preserve the places where we love to play, sets them up to be caring and responsible adults that will help protect our environment and the creatures around us.
Tips to Encourage Your Children's Love of Nature
Spend More Time Outdoors
Taking time to enjoy the outdoors is a great way to teach your children about plants and herbs. This helps pull them away from their toys and screens and you get to watch them embrace their curiosity for the world around them. Show them just how exciting learning about plants can be, especially if they are growing wild in your yard or neighborhood.
- Plan for an after-dinner or weekend walk and point out the Echinacea growing in front of a neighbor’s house, or the Black Walnut tree at the park.
- Make a game of it by trying to point out something in nature for every letter of the alphabet - A is for the apple tree, B is for the beautiful birds, C is for the clover growing in the yard, etc.
Create Herbal Art
One of the beautiful things about herbs is their versatility. Not only can they be harvested and turned into liquid extracts or capsules that support our well-being, they can also be used to make beautiful dyes and artwork.
- A simple activity you can do with your children is go to outside and spend time together drawing the herbs and plants that are growing in your environment. This will spark their creativity and help them to notice and appreciate the beauty around them. And best of all, they get to spend some quality time with you outdoors!
- Another fun idea is to collect leaves together and then look up the tree species that the leaves came from when you get home, as both children and adults learn best from hands-on activities. You can also use these leaves to make a leaf collage or trace around the different leaf shapes on paper.
- Another great craft to do with your children is creating natural play-dough. It’s non-toxic, and it is a great way for them to create and explore with herbs. Try this easy recipe.
Cook up Some Delicious Herbal Treats
Parents and children always enjoy making cookies together and this provides a great way to show your kid(s) how they can easily use herbs in everyday life. We like this recipe for Lavender Shortbread with Fruit, Flowers, and Herbs. These beautiful herbal shortbread cookies are a delicious and delightful treat.
Plant an Herb Garden
Planting an herb garden is another great way to inspire a love of plants in your children. It could be as simple as a few herbs in a window box, or a full-fledged herb and vegetable garden in your backyard. Creating this with your children can show them how to be kind and gentle to the earth and its plants, and it helps to create a sense of responsibility within them. Having your child(ren) help choose and care for the herbs shows them that the plants rely on us, just as much as we rely on them for a number of things such as producing oxygen for us to breathe and even providing nourishment to feed us.
Incorporate Herbs into Their Wellness Regimen
Your children’s health comes first, and one of the best ways to support their overall well-being is with herbal supplements created just for them.* That’s why we created our GaiaKids® line with supplements that are doctor-formulated just for little ones.* Our GaiaKids® Attention Daily Herbal Drops are great to help your little ones shine at school, and our GaiaKids® Tummy Tonic helps provide support for occasional upset tummies.*
It's a Big, Beautiful World Out There
For children, the world is wide and the possibilities are endless. Teaching them about herbs, and caring for themselves, others, and the environment from an early age helps to create a foundation that will benefit them through this great adventure we call life.