Kid have a habit of tasting anything they can lay their hands on. Is it better to leave the kids back in The House when you're in the garden rather than have them run around the garden while you work? Apart from that, if you use pesticides then if you're not watchful, a kid could grab a fruit that's covered with the poisonous chemical and cause you much trouble [that's if you grow fruits in your garden]. Owing to the bad things that could happen when you have kids with you in the garden, should you simply by any means you can keep them out of the garden?
You have to realize that sooner or later kids will enter the garden on their own - what happens then? This is why I think one should take the risk and educate the kids on what to eat or not from an early age. My grandparents had a huge garden and used pesticides from time to time, but not once had I eaten bad stuff since they took extra care to tell me not too. I agree than one must be constantly watchful in the conditions you wrote about but it's something that must be done. We can't be overly protective and then expect our kids to be educated properly.
I think a lot of people are way too careful when it comes to kids these days. In the past, they would have been allowed to put pretty much anything in their mouth without a germ zapping gel in sight. Try to teach them the things they really shouldn't eat, but don't worry about the odd bit of dirt. I really do think that it is important that children learn to help out in the garden, and if this means getting a little dirty along the way then so be it!
Kids should be introducted to the garden and told what they should and should not touch. There should not bee any dangerous plants in the garden to avoid a potential for harm to all humans. You do want to keep an eye on the child while the child is in the garden and do not spray any chemicals around the child.
I didn't realize it was so unsafe to have kids garden. I once bought a starter kit for the kids in my family for planting some nice vegetables but unfortunately they never grew for some reason. I think it would be nice to teach kids about planting early on specially since once they grow older they will probably be more interested in video games and internet.
I think it's a really good idea not to use any pesticides while your kids or pets are with you in the garden. In fact, I would only ever recommend organic pesticides if you have to use them. You want to teach your kids about plants and how to grow things, you don't want to bring them up believing that gardening, or being in nature is something dangerous and toxic.
Personally, if I had kids, I would not teach them to garden. Mostly because I do not know much about it myself lol. But we have children in the house - my three younger siblings. They would love to garden, and it would be good to get them out of the whole mindset of being afraid of insects and worms and such. So I can see the benefits. But I can't see any of the adults in this house actually taking the time to garden with the children.
I think once the kids are at a suitable age (4-5) they would be pretty okay being let into the garden. Just avoid the use of insecticides, and do not grow dangerous/poisonous plants like cacti and I think that it will be a great learning experience for them.
Gardening with kids is one of the best thing about spending time. The kids get to learn a lot and at the same time the parents also have a wonderful time. It is always nice to spend time with kids. They are so innocent.
