With Spring upon us, why not get children started with some gardening. Gardening offers children excellent sensory motor exploration. Think of all the senses that are involved in gardening:- Tactile - touching the rough seeds, feeling the dry dirt, experiencing cold, wet mud, handling the soft fuzz of a green bean or the smooth skin of a melon
- Proprioceptive - digging in the dirt, pushing a seed into the ground, carrying watering cans, hauling watermelons and pulling weeds
- Olfactory - smelling the flowers, herbs and vegetables
- Taste - enjoying a crisp bite of a carrot or a warm tomato from the sun
- Fine motor - handling the small seeds or picking a berry or bean
- Gross motor - kneeling in the garden, quadruped searching for cucumbers, squatting and standing
- Coordination - using garden tools with both hands or maneuvering a wheelbarrow
- Balance - avoiding stepping on plants or walking on the uneven ground
- Make sure you get the children involved. Ask what types of food or flowers they would like to grow.
- Look for seeds with short germination periods to keep the children interested.
- Give each child a small area that they can plant their seeds. Mark each child's with a self decorate garden marker (i.e. large paint stirrer stick) in the ground.
- Use good soil to ensure growth of the plants
- Remember to water and weed (fertilize if necessary).
- If you do not have the space to garden, how about creating a large container garden for the children to nurture and watch grown.
- If necessary, adapt the garden tools with bigger handles or velcro straps. If a child can not get to the ground to garden, bring the garden to them by starting a container garden.
For more Spring activities check out: Sensory Motor Activities for Spring, Spring Handwriting Activities and Print and Create Fine Motor Projects - Spring.
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