|
 Children’s
Garden Tools and the
Growing Love of
Gardening with Kids
By Dan Fenstemaker,
Inventor of the Original
INTELETOOL
Why Gardening and
Gardening with Kids is
on the Grow
I remember first reading
futurist Alvin Toffler’s
book, The Third Wave,
which was the sequel to
Future Shock, which he
wrote and published in
1970. The basic
framework of The Third
Wave was his discussion
of the three societies
(or waves) that have
come about in human
history, with each
society pushing aside
the older, former way of
living.
Now, you might be asking
what do large-scale,
societal changes, and
the stuff of
anthropology have to do
with gardening, kids,
and children’s garden
tools? Well, stay with
me for a bit, and you
will see.
The First Wave
The First Wave was the
Agrarian Society which
prevailed in most of the
world and pushed aside
the previous
hunter/gatherer ways of
living. One of the main
distinctive qualities
developed in an
agricultural society was
the ability for families
and tribes to settle in
one place and produce
many of the necessities
of life themselves.
Instead of always moving
around to hunt animals
and forage for food to
eat, humans developed
the ability to grow
their own crops and
raise their own
livestock for
consumption.
The Second Wave
The Second Wave,
according to Toffler,
was the Industrial Age
society, which created
radical changes in where
we lived, how we lived,
how we worked and how we
produced and traded
goods and services.
Toffler states, “the
Second Wave Society is
industrial and based on
mass production, mass
distribution, mass
consumption, mass
education, mass media,
mass recreation, mass
entertainment, and
weapons of mass
destruction. You combine
those things with
standardization,
centralization,
concentration, and
synchronization, and you
wind up with a style of
organization we call
bureaucracy.”
And, to put it simply,
this kind of mass,
homogenized,
standardized and
centralized way of
living left deep needs,
we have as people,
unmet. Instead of
crafting, producing, or
harvesting for ourselves
and enjoying the work
and satisfaction you get
from this, we ended up
being trained in some
highly-specific skill,
doing it all day long,
and then taking the pay
we earned from this
single skill and
exchanging it for all
the other things we
needed for life. In many
ways it worked, and
still works, but it can
leave us empty. Why?
Because humans need to
be creative, they need
to accomplish good work,
and they need to feel
the satisfaction of
completing good things
in good ways and see the
finished work of their
hands.
The Third Wave
The Third Wave began
around 1950 in the
western world, and
according to Toffler, it
is characterized by
reactions against such
mass, homogenous,
“one-size-fits-all”
methods from the
industrial age. Although
the scope of this
article is far too
limited to discuss
Toffler’s definition of
the Third Wave, it is
relevant to see the
connection between
American’s
dissatisfaction with
having everything done
for them, mass-produced
in some place they’ve
never been to and by
people they’ve never
met, and their search
for ways to be
self-sustaining,
creative and more
closely involved with
what they need for food,
shelter, entertainment
and beauty.
How Gardening with
Children Meets our Needs
Now you might be
starting to see how
shifts in our society
have made hobbies and
lifestyles like
gardening, family farms,
handmade crafts, and
family-centered
activities so much more
popular and common.
Though convenient,
people are tired of the
massive “big box” stores
where you know no one,
the supposed variety of
selections all look
pretty much the same,
and nothing has been
produced with pride or
by anyone you’ve ever
met. And gardening with
children is one way to
satisfy our needs to
relate, feel the pride
of accomplishment, and
to enjoy a pace and
lifestyle our ancestors
enjoyed many years ago.
Thankfully, there are
now a number of
manufacturers of great
children’s gardening
tools, so look around,
surf the net, and
remember, kids can be
harder on tools than a
full grown person!
Sometimes a shovel
becomes a hammer before
you even realize what
they’re up to. So, don’t
compromise quality for
price, and buy your kids
well made, durable
tools. In the long run,
you will be thankful you
did.
---
Dan Fenstemaker is a
children's garden tools expert.
For more great
information on
children's garden tools,
visit
http://www.inteletool.com. |
