Both of my children are picky
eaters. One night while brainstorming with my husband on ways we could get them
to try veggies; we came up with the idea of a garden. We bought three horse
troughs to create raised gardens since our soil is horrible. As we created the
garden with the children, I realized that this garden wasn’t just going to help
them with feeding; it was going to help them with other skills as well because
a garden is a complete sensory experience. They will have different
opportunities to learn using a kinesthetic and multi sensory learning approach
through seeing, touching, tasting, smelling and hearing. It will also help them learn how to adapt to
sights, sounds, and light.
One thing I really love about the
garden is learning the unexpected. Today we had a full lesson on caterpillars
and butterflies after observing a caterpillar eating one of our tomatoes. It
made the kids want to eat a tomato too!
Another thing a garden promotes is
physical and emotional wellness, as well as, cognitive development. As my children
help to tend the garden, they will be using fine and gross motor skills. The
smells and sounds of the garden are also very calming.
If you have some space where you
can have a garden, I highly recommend it. Some great sensory items for a garden
include soft flowers, scented plants (ie: mint, parsley, oregano, rosemary),
springy moss, prickly seed pods, rough bark, smooth stones, rubber mulch, sand,
running fountain, and bird bath.
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