Gardening
with Children with Special Needs
Gardens create exceptional outdoor classrooms for children of
all ages and abilities, but they are especially valuable teaching
tools for students with special needs. This month we explore
the benefits of gardening with this population and provide a
collection of tips and resources for adapting basic plant-based
lessons and activities.
Background and Lessons
Gardening
with Children with Special Needs – Learn how gardens benefit
this population, and read profiles of two exemplary gardening
programs.
Tips
and Resources –
Experts provide advice for planning and managing gardening activities
with special needs students. Lots of links to Web resources,
too!
Adapting
Common Garden Tasks – Ideas for facilitating planting and
maintenance activities.
Lesson:
Adaptive Seed Starting Methods –
Suggestions for adapting a basic gardening activity when working
with students with special needs, and links to related lessons.
Other
Resources
Some
Things a Garden Can Be – Kidsgardening.org Advisory
Board member, Dr. Carol Fraser, shares her
experiences of the
abundant
opportunities
for student growth in the garden.
Gardens
are for Everyone - Our Classroom Projects feature on adaptive
gardening methods and innovative accessible designs.
© 2007
National Gardening Association