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
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
Now think of all the motor experiences:
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
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
Why not start a garden this Spring. Here are 8 tips to creating a successful garden experience with children.
- 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.
Happy Gardening!
Spring Poses includes 12 full size pages with one Spring pose and directions per page, 3 pages of the 12 poses in smaller sizes, 20 games ideas to use with the poses and a Spring blossom tree game. Find out more at http://www.yourtherapysource.com/springposes.html
No comments:
Post a Comment