The Problem
We do not have any green spaces in the school. We have court yards but no plants, flowers, no seating nothing inviting us humans or wild life to come visit.
We do not have any green spaces in the school. We have court yards but no plants, flowers, no seating nothing inviting us humans or wild life to come visit.
We want to create a sensory garden in one of the court yards. We want to create an environment that welcomes the pollinators and birds, draws our students and staff to go out and connect with nature.
This was such a fun project. With the Jane Goodall Institute and Roots and Shoots Mini Grant we were able to make great strides toward our sensory garden. We were able to purchase 2 colorful windchimes. One was made with bamboo the other glass. They are both bright and produce different sounds when the wind blows. The bamboo windchime came with an attachment so the students can create their own sounds when they tap the chimes. We also purchased a brightly colored bird bath. We placed marbles on the bottom of bath so our pollinator friends (the bees) can take a little rest and have a drink. Another purchase the students loved was the sand play station. We finished up our grant funds with the purchase of potted flowers, patio set and several primary colored windmills.
The students learned so much on nature. I feel the biggest take away was, we need the bees and they are our friends. The students worked as a team and took turns placing the windmills into the ground.
I was honored with the mini grant in May. School let's out the beginning of June. With that being said I think I would have held off starting this project till the beginning of the next school year. We were so excited to be awarded the grant we jumped on getting it going. We were unable to plant flowers, bushes, vegetables as no-one would be at the school to properly care for them. This is ultimately fine as we had a great start and we will build on the start Jane Goodall Institute and Roots and Shoots awarded us with. Our garden will continue to grow and will offer a place to connect to nature for years to come.
My favorite part was seeing the faces of those who walked by the garden. This space is now welcoming to all. This space is colorful, inviting for students, staff and all our nature friends to visit. We all could use small beaks throughout our day, where better to take a break then outside listening to the birds sing, watching a fat fuzzy bee fly by, smelling the flowers and feeling the warmth of the sun on your face.
Fun fact, you build a sensory garden the student will get side tracked and want to touch and play more so then do school "work". I enjoyed this experience with our special needs students.