We’ve been learning more and more about how nature and plants have a calming effect on our bodies and our minds. While we may not be able to get out for a daily nature walk or luxurious forest bathing, we can add some pop of green into our classrooms!
Read on to learn WHY adding some fantastic flora to our classroom spaces is a no brainer. Don’t miss out on the resources included toward the end of the blog!
Positive Impact on Mental Health
While we may not be able to take our students outdoors every day or get them walking through the woods, indoor plants can be a simple way to support your students’ mental health! According to TIME magazine, plants can benefit us in a multitude of ways:
- Reduce anxiety and stress.
- Sharpen attention.
- Speed up healing.
- Increase happiness and life satisfaction.
- Improve productivity.
If you want more of the specifics behind this list, check out the article here.
Psychology Today wrote a piece on this too! Their article, “11 Ways Plants Enhance your Emotional and Mental Health“, reinforces the list above and adds a couple more benefits like:
- Improved symptoms of ADD/ADHD
- High levels of creativity
- Better self-esteem
- Stronger memory retention
Need I go on?! Of course we want these benefits in our classrooms!
On a personal note, I started adding plants to my room about five years into teaching and I can tell you there was a DEFINITE change. Not only did it reduce my stress level, but it positively impacted my students too!
There were even times during my prep when I had my door open that I would have students that WEREN’T MINE stop in and talk to me. The vibe of the space literally drew them in! Can you imagine?! Middle schoolers WILLINGLY entering a classroom and saying things like,
“I wish I had a class in here!”
“What class do you teach?”
“Can I just sit in here for a bit?”
I’m getting goosebumps just thinking back to it. This was literally all the evidence I needed.
Add Interest & Fun
Bring plants into your classroom through the ACTIVITIES and RESOURCES you use! Whether its reading books with a plant theme (The Secret Garden, This Poison Heart, Wild Beauty, etc), planting or taking care of plants as a classroom job or science project, or even using plants to build community or simply support mental health, there really are A LOT of options here.
My students LOVED helping me take care of my plants. I had students asking on the daily to water them or checking in to make sure I was watering them! 😉 This “job” is a great one for our kiddos who need a little extra attention or activity in order to focus.
I also incorporated plants into our classroom with resources I have created. My top-selling resource to date is a Daily Agenda Google Slides resource called Plans & Plants. The color scheme is earthy and calming and it also has a bunch of fun, plant-themed stickers that draw interest and add a sprinkle of fun.
Additionally, I created a plant-themed Daily Writing Journal Set called, “Why Write.” This uses “planting the SEED of writing” as a jumping off point for teaching kids why writing is so beneficial.
This theme creates such an easy parallel for students to visualize and REALLY understand the benefits of writing. Using prompts that get them analyzing how they are creating positive and nurturing environments for their own writing in order to improve growth and abundance.
With inclusive graphics, emojis, and prompts, the resource really allows ALL students to see themselves in the learning tools they’re using. Plus, the doodling pages and writing supports included provide differentiation that many of our students REALLY need!
PLANTS: Small List, Big Impact
While this is by far the shortest list I’ve ever created, it’s not hard to see how IMPACTFUL it is. We don’t need a billion reasons why when just two of them hold this much power.
If you’re convinced (and you should be😉), you’ll want to read more.
This is where I’ll give you some recommendations on what plants to start with.
Knowing how to care for plants and WHICH plants to choose will be especially helpful for those of us who would NOT be described as having a green thumb 🫣 💚.
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