One of my main goals at my center for children with special needs is to make learning fun. One of the biggest roles I play is creating programs that increase my kiddos motivation. Motivation is everything. It is the difference between truly engaging in an activity and not being fully present during an activity. It is the star of the programs I wrote. When I analyze behavior, I am always looking for what motivates a child to do something so that I can help him or her be more motivated to engage in this activity in the future.
I have spoken about how important I think functional activities are for all children, and particularly for children with autism, in Learning how to participate in everyday, family life as well as learning new and vital life skills.
I created my center in a townhouse in Paris to give my little learners the chance to learn and thrive together in a home-like setting while making friends, having a great time and making lasting and positive memories.
One of my favorite functional activities that I do with the children here is gardening. We are so fortunate to have a small garden courtyard where we can plant and water and Watch our flowers grow. I love gardening with the kids so much that I created an entire Pinterest board about gardening with special needs learners. One of my favorite past posts is 6 Tips to make gardening with children with autism easy & fun.
The children have various gardening responsibilities in my learning house : planting, watering the plants, checking on progress and keeping a gardening journal.
I am always looking for ways to keep gardening fun and to keep my little learners’ motivation high for gardening activities. One of my favorite ways to keep my kiddos motivated to garden is by planting in non-traditional ways. Hmm, “planting in non-traditional ways”. What does that mean, anyway?! It means I like to choose fascinating objects, often with the help of the kids, to use for our gardening projects.
These are some of my favorite ideas for non-traditional planters :
1.Planting in a Martha Washington sewing table. This unusual planter idea is from Paint Ideas.
2.Planting in a transparent glass jar or vase. This gorgeous idea is from Refinery 29.
3.Planting in tea tins from Magnolia Electric.
4.Planting in an antique coffee grinder. This fabulous idea is from Plantstore.
I have so much to share with you, my dear readers, about our garden and how the children learn through gardening. I will be writing more about this soon! ♥
You must be logged in to post a comment.