Our oldest is officially in the stage where I can get ask him to help me with anything. He is bigger than Ashley and interested in learning about all the things, especially if there’s a power tool involved. So today in honor of passing on all the chores to our kids, we thought we’d share 5 tips for teaching your child to mow the yard.
{Also as a bonus, our favorite 25″ Greenworks mower is on sale! Make sure to check it out.}
Sure these tips may seem basic, but alas teenage brain. You honestly don’t realize how much you take for granted by thinking something is just common sense, until it’s too late with all things yard… and life.
Safety
This one goes without saying, but make sure they understand all the safety features of the mower, or any power equipment. They’re all a little different and some equipment is a little more automatic, which is why we have taught our kids using Greenworks products. They have a lot of built-in safety mechanisms and generally, are just easier and safer to use.
Bottom line, make sure everyone understands the safety aspects of the tools you’re using. And be sure they’re using appropriate tools. Again this is why we prefer a battery-powered tool: they’re lighter and easier to use while getting the exact same job done. Plus we get to teach our kids about being green and not only making our environment look pretty, but taking better care of it in the process.
Avoid lawn scalping.
I thought. “if I set the blade height he’ll be good to go”. There was surely, no need to worry about cutting the grass too low in any area.
I was wrong.
Weeks later, and we’re still waiting on the grass to grow back.
I didn’t take into account there were a couple of areas that I did adjust the blade when I was cutting the grass. I guess it was just a habit for me and I didn’t think to mention it. Of course, he had no frame of reference for it so there you have it in all its glory.
Make sure to take the time to talk about how the yard might have different elevations and that sometimes the blade needs to be adjusted up or down to accommodate. Walking the yard with them and showing them the areas might be a good practice.
Watch out for that tree
Hand in hand with lawn scalping is taking care of those tree roots. We have some trees that have mulch or pine straw around them and then we have some mature trees that we don’t mulch. Some trees will have roots that protrude above the ground that you want to make sure you don’t cut in to. It’s not only bad for the blade but a sure-fire way for disease and pests to harm them.
I typically use the string trimmer around these trees and cut a wide circle with the mower to avoid those roots. In his effort to do the best job he could and get all the grass, he cut a little to close to the tree.
Poor tree.
Have a Pattern
I realized I did not impart this bit of wisdom when he left random shapes all in the yard. He simply heard “have fun”, so he did.
I’m not sure if it was poorly executed crop circles, or his yard art. Either way, the yard looked like someone was drinking margaritas (recipe here) while cutting it, but he made it from point A to point B and was very pleased with himself.
So we covered the topic of patterns and how the goal is to cut all the yard, not just go from point A to B. Patterns prevent you from having to go back over areas you missed. I walked the yard with him and showed him my pattern, then handed him a fresh battery and sent him on his way to recut it.
Doing things twice is a great teacher.
The way the wind blows
One day a couple of weeks ago I spent a day putting pine straw around several of our trees and bushes we had recently planted. I think last count was 22 new trees and 44 new bushes. We took arbor day seriously this year. Everything was looking fresh and it was one of those instant gratification kind of yard days.
Then I put one of the kids behind the mower, while I used the string trimmer. Rounding the corner, I almost dropped the trimmer when I realized he’d blown all the grass straight out of the mower all over the freshly laid pine straw, destroying all my work in a matter of seconds. Not his fault of course, but another thing I should have told him before I sent him off to mow.
Yay, more clean up work.
Teaching your kids to pitch in with the yard work is definitely a work in progress. If you’re at this life stage with us, we hope these five tips for teaching your child to mow the yard helped today. We still have two more kiddos to go in the yard education realm of things. Pray for us.
What are some that you’d add?
Happy grass cutting! Have an inspired day.
Deb says
Oh my gosh! I laughed so hard. It brought back memories of our failure to communicate with our middle son who thought he was to only cut the high spots. Our lawn looked like my son was searching for the way out of a maze, all loops and weird angles. Fun memories.
ashley @ the handmade home says
HAHA! I really should post an over all photo of the yard. You’re not alone.. he went a little crazy ;}
Oven Fresh Cake says
I read a lot of blog posts!! This is great content work.