Let’s Make a Gardening Sensory Bin
(EI-TVI version)

Caregiver PDF

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EI-TVI PDF

So much learning goes naturally into gardening or just being outside. Even if your child can’t see a flower, they can touch the petals, smell its fragrance, and listen to how it sounds swaying in the breeze. Gardening together is one way to help your child develop an understanding of the outside and how things grow.

Objectives

• Explore natural objects with all the senses, including touch, smell, and even taste.
  
• Learn about real things that grow in the garden. What does the “whole food” look like? For example, the child might be used to kernels of corn, but not corn on the cob.
  

Expanded Core Curriculum Areas Supported

• Sensory Efficiency: Use senses to explore, understand, and interact with natural objects, especially functional vision, touch, smell, and sound.
• Recreation and Leisure: Discover leisure-time preferences, such as being in nature and gardening.
• Social Skills: Bonding and communicating with caregiver during the activity.
• Self-Determination: Choice making, decision making, and problem solving.
• Compensatory Skills: Concept development, touch skills for learning and communication modes.
• Independent Living: This activity shows where food comes from and how to grow it.
  

Everyday Routines Supported

• Play and leisure-time activities, such as gardening
• Mealtime (where food comes from)
  

Suggested Next Steps to Use This Activity With Caregiver and Child

1. Discuss activity with caregiver to determine appropriateness and relevancy to family.
2. Forward the caregiver version of the activity to the caregiver.
3. Remind the primary caregiver one to two days before the home/virtual visit to gather the materials required.
4. Introduce the activity, discuss the objectives, and provide an overview of the possible steps.
5. Be prepared to break down activities into a smaller subset as the child and family may not have the time or tolerance to complete all activities.
6. After completing this activity, consider extension activities that may be appropriate and relevant to the family.