You can style your home with indoor plants and bring serene and welcoming feeling.
But indoor plants can, also, be a way to purify the air in your home for you and your children’s health and safety.
This post is all about baby safe plants.
In addition, you will read ideas about planting for kids and how to nurture children’s love of nature!
Benefits of indoor plants
Artificial plants might look good, if you are worried about allergic reactions or not having a green thumb. However, real plants purify the air and provide oxygen. Most importantly, real plants foster a love of nature and teach children how to care for living things. Last but not least, indoor plants enhance your décor capturing serene and welcoming feeling and bringing positive energy.
Indoor (and garden) plant list of baby safe plants
- Spider plant : it is great for gardening novices! It is easy to grow, non-toxic and air-purifying. It loves indirect sunlight and well-drained soil.If you water it once a week, it should be just fine!
- Parlor palm : it is not toxic and it’s a great option for your nursery. It loves low light and requires a lot of water. As it is a big plant, you would probably place the pot on the floor.
- Baby’s tear : it is a hanging or small potted plant. It requires moderate sunlight with well-drained soil, but don’t let it dry out!
- Bird of paradise : this tropical plant loves direct sunlight and prefers moist soil.
- Baby rubber plant (also known as Pepper Plant/American Rubber Plant/Peperomia Obtusifolia) : it is a semi-succulent and it stores water in its thick leaves. Water it once or twice a week. There are varieties that love shade and others that prefer a few hours of sun each day. Rubber Plants are toxic, but the Baby Rubber Plant is non-toxic.
- Boston fern: another air-purifying and completely non-toxic plant. Ferns like humidity, misting, and indirect sunlight.
Planting for kids
Plants and gardening can offer amazing learning opportunities to children.
- Get gardening tools and gloves for kids.
- Look for local seed library, where seed packets are shared for free.
- Let children explore different types of plant seeds. Encourage children to observe them closely. Allow them even to crush the seeds and use their senses to see what’s inside them.
- Encourage children observe how water is absorbed and travels up from the base.
- Create a vegetable garden. Start small with vegetables in egg cartoons and then plant them in the garden or pots.
- Vegetables that are easy to grow are: carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum, pumkin, zucchini, beetroot, corn, strawberries.
Things to keep in mind
- Choose low-maintenance plants!
- Go for large potted plants or smaller plants on a shelf.
- There are plants that are not toxic; however they might cause allergic reactions to our little ones (for example Begonia Obliqua).
- Some plants might not be toxic, however parts of them can be dangerous. For instance, succulents are pretty safe as far as toxicity is concerned. Nevertheless, spines and needles of succulents wouldn’t be safe.
- Always double-check with your florist and do your research, when you buy a plant especially for baby or toddlers room just to be on the safe side. Young kids might put parts of the plant in their mouth and ingest them. For example, I’ve seen many people recommend snake plants for babies room, as it is almost unkillable and parents might place it on a high shelf. Nevertheless, snake plants have toxic parts. Also, some species of fern might be toxic. Check this website for plants to avoid around kids.
- As in every other aspects of our lives, parents are important role models. Therefore, if children observe you looking after plants, they will probably imitate you. If you believe that gardening is definitely not your thing, either you start small and you learn slowly with your child or expose your child to gardening activities in your community with gardening experts. Even walking around a park or a florist shop while admiring and talking about plants, it can definitely grow children’s curiosity about nature and plants. Also, activities like camping and hiking can have a real impact on children’s love and respect of nature.
In this post you found a list of baby safe plants and tips on what you should keep in mind regarding plants and children.
Also, you read ideas about planting for kids!
Please share the post with parents, who would love to foster love of nature to their young and older children.
