Planning a Simple Sensory Garden by Caitlin

Guest post by Caitlin Wray of Welcome to Normal.

While many of us may still be shovelling snow, you may also have noticed your local department store has already stocked the patio furniture in their seasonal area, and greenhouses are already sending out their seed catalogues in the mail. These are sure signs that spring is just around the snow bank, so what better time to take an hour by yourself, a cup of tea (or a glass of wine, depending on how your day is going), and plan a simple sensory garden for your children.

You don't need to be a gardener, or even have a garden, to make this a fun spring project. You can easily do a raised bed garden by making a simple wooden frame, or even just use containers for your patio or balcony. Keep it simple and stress-free.

There are lots of resources out there for sensory gardens, but mine is a little different because it includes all 8 of the senses, rather than just the traditional 5.

Sight
My favourite choice for the sight sense in a garden, is the classic and majestic Giant Sunflower. Not only does it fill your visual sense with its bold colour and tall stature, it also has its own sense of 'sight' when it watches the sun cross the sky. A sunflower moves with the sun throughout the day in its early growth stages, and this provides many great opportunities to extend the value of this flower in the garden. Help your child research why the sunflower does this, take a photo every hour (not necessarily all in one day, but over the course of a few days) and assemble your photos in Microsoft's free stop action movie maker to make a movie that shows the sunflower following the sun. These plants also have the benefit of growing at a very rapid pace, which is great for kids who hate to wait!


Smell
Help introduce your children to exotic smells like curry, with the Curry plant Helichrysum italicum. You can also give them the decadent scent of chocolate with Chocolate Cosmos. Lavender is another popular scent, but be careful if your kids have allergies. Oregano is an easy and excellent choice - little fingers can rub it to release the essential fragrant oils, and then take it straight from a garden herb pot to a homemade pizza.


Sound

There is something timeless and peaceful in the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. Tall grasses are easy to grow and when planted in bunches, can add an almost musical element to a sensory garden. Choose a variety from your local store to ensure it is hardy for your growing zone.
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