[Njorun38]

I completely agree, gentle teaching and affirmation is super important. Whether they’re “too young” is a bit of a difficult metric. Personally I wouldn’t have a young child below teenage age operating a tractor or heavy machinery as they could get severely hurt— I’ve hear of children as young as 12 losing fingers and toes trying to operate machinery they’re too young for. People need to be wise and accept physical limitations instead of pushing children too hard. That said, can an 8 year old hold a rake give it a go while their parents are tilling the soil? Yeah, that seems relatively harmless and, even if they’re not “tilling right” they can have fun learning and try, as long as you haven’t planted any seeds yet they’re not gonna mess anything up too badly. It’s all about balance and keeping a wise and level-headed perspective, while allowing fun, emotional connection, and the early building blocks of life experience here. As long as the child isn’t feeling forced and is being encouraged to do so from a place of loving encouragement.