Is Bonsai for Children?

The answer is a resounding YES! Bonsai is a wonderful hobby for children and teens! There are many benefits to involving your children in the art, including but not limited to:

• Improved well-being and resilience

• Strengthened zen focus

• Rejuvenated attention span

• Stronger connection to nature

• Increased self-confidence

• Increased creative and critical thinking

• Stronger communication and collaboration skills

Studies are finding that "...not only do experiences of nature enhance academic learning, but they seem to foster personal development – the acquisition of intrapersonal and interpersonal assets such as perseverance, critical thinking, leadership, and communication skills. While quantitative research on these outcomes is rare, the qualitative work is voluminous, striking, and near-unanimous. Teachers, parents, and students report that

wilderness and other nature experiences boost self-confidence, critical thinking, and problem-solving as well as leadership and communication skills such as making important decisions, listening to others, and voicing opinions in a group . Students emerge more resilient, with a greater capacity to meet challenges and thrive in adverse situations. Interestingly, greener everyday settings may also boost positive coping and buffer children from the impacts of stressful life events."

-Do Experiences With Nature Promote Learning? Converging Evidence of a Cause-and-Effect Relationship, Copyright © 2019 Ming Kuo, Michael Barnes, and Catherine Jordan

Additionally, working with Bonsai has been shown to lower stress and cortisol levels as well as anxiety for practitioners of all ages. Bonsai classes are the best and safest way to introduce your children to the art, and we provide several ways to become involved. It is important to remember that all students

should be able to handle the bonsai tools safely, and parents, teachers, staff or legal guardians MUST be present with children below the age of 18. Although parents should be present, and doing bonsai together is a great bonding experience, we recommend parents and children each work on their own trees; best results come when students are allowed to explore the art under the watchful eye of the teacher; perfection is NOT what bonsai is about, we need to allow for wabi-sabi! Check out Daniel's beginning bonsai classes here! Look into our bonsai classes for schools, clubs, and youth facilities here!