With Children’s Gardening Week at forefront of our minds, we contacted 150 schools in the area and entered all into a donation draw, with 40 lucky schools receiving 50g of the easy-to-grow, Space Saver wildflower seed mix. This mix includes a variety of flowers for children such as poppies, cornflowers and sulphur cosmos.
As many of the schools had wild areas, gardening clubs or outdoor spaces to revitalise, there was a huge amount of positivity and excitement about the wildflower seed donations! We are definitely looking forward to seeing some pictures and videos from the school with their wildflower mixes in full bloom thanks to the kids’ hard work in the garden!
Top wildflowers for children to grow
Although wildflowers have a little bit of a reputation for being unpredictable, they are pretty easy to grow and therefore make great flowers for children starting out on the gardening journey!
The bright, vibrant colours and different textures of wildflowers are also perfect for supporting children’s development in those important early years. The wildflower seed mixes are full of different species which offers a full sensory experience for kids, known to help enhance progress in learning and communication.
Here are some of our top picks when choosing flowers for children….
- Cornflowers – native wildflower
- Corn Marigold – native wildflower
- Poppies – can be native or non-native
- Cosmos – non-native wildflower
- Oxeye Daisies – native wildflower
- Corn Cockle – native wildflower
- Scabious – native wildflower
Why is donating wildflowers for children important
As a business, we are super keen to work with schools and charities to help accessibility to green spaces and to get children out growing. There are so many benefits associated with being out in and around nature and developing a relationship with the natural world at a young age is also key to future generations
Wildflowers for bees & butterflies
Explaining the importance of pollination, and the crucial role of pollinators in this process, to children is crucial! Particularly with pollinator numbers falling in many areas of the UK in recent years.
By growing wildflowers and educating children on the process of pollination as a key part of food production, we can encourage kids to have a better connection with nature and understand the importance of taking care of living creatures – which, may be small , but have a big impact on human life.
Wildflowers help reduce anxiety
Wildflowers are not only great for bees & butterflies but they also play a crucial role in supporting us with our mental health. Wildflowers can provide a real sensory experience for children, helping them to relax and release anxious feelings or thoughts. The look, feel, sound and smell of wildflowers often help to create a feeling of positivity, happiness and can also help us to keep calm. If children learn to engage and connect with nature in this way from a young age, then they have developed a great tool that they can use for the rest of their lives.
Gardening is great exercise
Although children love to be active, it can sometimes seem like a struggle to get them out in the fresh air exercising. Growing wildflowers at school is a fantastic and simple way to encourage children to exercise – without them even knowing that they’re doing it! As a physical activity gardening is perfect for kids. It’s full of hidden exercises such as lunges, squats, bicep curls and bent over rows! In fact, it’s a full body work out!
Many of the schools that we donated wildflowers to, had definitely noticed the power of gardening as a way to encourage children to get outside and get active. Many even had Gardening Clubs for the children to do just that!
If you would like more information on which wildflower seed mixtures are best for children to grow, please get in touch. We’d love to help!