keeping plants can be healthy and fun

Keeping Houseplants Can Be Healthy and Fun

It can be fun to explore the lesser known days in our calendars. Did you know that January 10, 2021 is National Houseplant Appreciation Day? This is a fun find, and it’s quite fitting for this time of year. Keeping houseplants can be healthy and fun!

Many of us have put away our holiday decorations. After the lights and colors of the holidays, our homes can seem rather plain. Houseplants can add some life and vibrance back into our homes.

Additionally, January is winter for many of us, and it does not provide much greenery or life. Houseplants give us some life in the winter. Let’s look at how growing houseplants can be healthy and fun.

The Benefits 

The dark and lifelessness of winter can affect our moods in very real ways. It’s easy to find ourselves down and unmotivated during this season. This can go much deeper for some people. It’s important to provide ways to be encouraged and to see hope and life somewhere. Houseplants can help us see life and provide hope for springtime. The simple act of caring for a potted plant – watering, repotting, cleaning, and pruning – can refocus our minds onto positive, uplifting thoughts.

Houseplants provide health in another way. All plants provide oxygen, but there are some houseplants that do a really great job of cleaning our air. Increasing your indoor air quality can help your breathing and lower eye, ear, nose, and throat irritation. Beyond those more obvious benefits, they can also increase your attention levels and lower your stress. 

Lastly, getting out of your house and visiting a plant nursery can be a wonderful excursion. Children love seeing all the plants. And they will be more likely to help with plant care if they get to choose a plant and a special pot to place it into.

Head over to National Houseplant Appreciation Day for more information about the benefits of keeping houseplants.

Houseplants and Your Kids

Let your kids help fill the pots with soil and place the new plants. If you already have houseplants, let your kids help repot or fertilize your houseplants. Your kids can learn how to water your plants and help you keep on top of this chore. 

Your kids will love watching their plants for growth and for flowering, if it’s a flowering plant. And tending to a plant is a wonderful way to learn about plants and the science of how they grow. 

Our Rachel and the Tree Schoolers series has some fun lessons on plants and photosynthesis. Here is a fun song about photosynthesis from the Plants and Flowers episode.

You can watch the entire Plants and Flowers episode, or even the entire Rachel and the Tree Schoolers series, with a My Signing Time digital subscription. You can sign up here for a 14-day free trial!

Easy Houseplants

Where do you start if you don’t know anything about plants? Here are a few ideas.

Spider plants are pretty, do not need direct light, and they clean the air.

Snake plants, also called Mother-in-Law’s Tongue, are hard to kill and are good at cleaning your air.

If you want instant flowers, you can keep a Garden Chrysanthemum indoors. Your kids will enjoy pulling off the spent flowers, and you can then plant it outdoors in the spring. They are also great at removing pollutants from the air.

Rubber plants are easy, tolerant of neglect, and can grow quite large in the right conditions. In addition to cleaning the air, they remove bacteria and mold spores.

These are only a few recommendations. There are many options for your specific needs and environments. Do a little searching, make a list, and head to your local plant nursery!

Keeping houseplants can be rewarding, healthy, and fun!

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