Now that it is Spring, I decided to choose an activity that represents not only Spring, but something I enjoy to do in Spring.
For this month, in my speech therapy bag, I have chosen the book “My Garden” by Kevin Henkes. This book is about a little girl who helps her mother with her garden, but then begins to tell you about her garden if she had one. “There would be no weeds, and the flowers would keep blooming and blooming and never die”, “If I planted seashells, I’d grow seashells”, and “And if you picked a flower, another one would grow right back in its place” are some of the features described in her garden.
To contribute to the book, I have placed this Build My Garden set in a sensory bean bin. This will engage younger children to plant their own garden and to describe their garden. Talking about the steps to plant a garden is also a great language activity to pair with this. For the older children, I plan to let them create their own garden with various craft supplies. Their gardens can be as simple as they want it to be or as creative and detailed as they want it to be. Writing activity is also great for those children who are not into crafts. Start with the phrase “In my garden….”.
Wanting to go an extra step… at home, have your child(ren) help you plant. Whether it is flowers or vegetables, have your child(ren) tell you the steps needed to plant. Or talk about how each plant is different or the same. Which plants are bigger/smaller. Which plants need a lot of sun and which plants need no sun. Planting is a natural sensory regulation activity as well. Having the children dig in the dirt, pulling the weeds, raking the mulch, etc are all great to enhance all senses.
I hope you find this activity a fun one and Happy Spring!
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