Many romanticize the exciting, fast-paced lifestyle offered by living in the city. There are diverse experiences there that country life could not replicate, after all. The general idea is that the city brings more opportunities than the country can.
But the same can be said about farm life, too, can’t it? Country life offers a great range of life experiences that city living cannot. They just are not as widely discussed. It is time to get rid of these notions and understand why farm life offers numerous benefits, especially for growing kids.
Remember that living on a farm can be a wonderful educational experience for your children, but only if you allow it to be.
The Biggest Lessons Your Children Can Learn on the Farm
Honestly, there is an infinite amount of things a child can discover while living farm life. Here are some of the best ones that you can guide them through as they grow up.
1. They gain a better understanding of weather and nature.
When you live on a farm, you are always concerned about how the weather and its sudden changes could affect your crops. Rainwaters your plants, but too much of it can drown them. Sunlight gives plants the energy to photosynthesize, but excessive heat could dry them up.
Being exposed to these regularly helps your child develop a sensitivity for the various positive and negative impacts of weather on plants, animals, and even humans. It can also teach them how to tend to plants and pets in case of emergencies.
A pro-tip: one great plus of farm life is the space you have for renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar power. These contraptions are sure to pique their curiosity, so take the time to explain how wind turbines are transported and set up, up to how you harness them. This lets you educate your child early on of its numerous benefits to you, especially the environment.
2. They know where their food comes from.
Many children simply assume that their food comes from grocery stores and restaurants without directly encountering farm animals and crops. Obviously, this is an incomplete picture of how meals reach their plates. When children are exposed to farm living, it shows them where it all starts and lets them discover the origins of their food on their own.
An understanding of the many processes meat, dairy, and vegetables go through before they can eat them also allows children to be more appreciative of it. This opens the path for mindful eating practices, which encourages paying full attention to one’s food while eating.
Mindfulness allows kids to see mealtime as more than just something to get them to the next part of their day. It lets them eat more slowly, digest their food better, and even find fun in the act of eating itself.
3. They get to learn various life skills.
Farming exposes children to different tasks that they can try their hand at safely. For instance, it teaches them how to properly take care of animals, from pigs and cows to chickens. It also familiarizes them with specialized skills early on, such as milking cows and pulling weeds in your garden.
Along with the variety of tasks you can assign them to help out with daily, farming teaches kids many qualities that they can carry until they grow older.
They learn to take on responsibilities and solve problems when they come up. They also learn how to work and communicate with different people to accomplish a task efficiently. These character traits make them more well-adjusted adults who are ready to take on new challenges.
4. They become more physically active.
The farm offers an amazing amount of space for kids to run around and simply enjoy being young. Kids can play with each other or ride their bikes or horses while enjoying the fresh air and countryside scenery.
Since there is so much for them to do on the farm, it also makes them less dependent on devices to have fun. Technology is not bad, but it is vital to their growth that they understand how the virtual world is not the only place that can offer enjoyment and knowledge.
Raising Brave and Adventurous Children
Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that farm kids have less life experience than those who grew up in the city. Armed with creativity and a good mindset, you can raise your kids to appreciate the pleasures of country life and the invaluable lessons it teaches.
