Gardening Project Is Therapeutic, Educational And Social

Leah and her teacher have fun watering
during a sensory motor group at NEPC.

Inspired by a love of gardening, Michelle Pelletier facilitated a therapeutic gardening activity for students at the New England Pediatric day school this year.

“Planting and cultivating fruits, vegetables and flowers provides excellent sensory motor exploration,” explained Michelle, a certified occupational therapy assistant at NEPC.

In the early spring the 29 students at the special education day school used fine motor skills to plant seeds and later transplant the seedlings into a raised bed. Now that summer has arrived they are using gross motor skills as they work with tools to cultivate their crops,

“This project is therapy driven, but because of our integrated program our teachers are able to design lessons around the gardening project to enrich the students’ experiences,” Michelle said. “We all work together to build and reinforce each individual’s skills.”

Gardening exposes the children to tactile and olfactory stimuli that they don’t experience every day. It also provides a valuable social opportunity and focal point for interacting with family members and caregivers.

Collaboration was central in creating the low-budget garden. Michelle’s dad donated the seeds and soil. The maintenance department at NEPC scavenged parts from expired wheelchairs and other equipment to build the raised beds so the kids (who are non-ambulatory) could access the plants at wheelchair height. The nursing staff determines whether temperature, humidity or pollen could impact a child’s condition on any given day, and if they can’t go outside staff members always volunteer to water.

NEPC Director of Education Amy Gagnon, M.Ed., points out that the garden contributes to parity for the challenged learners, who are educated apart from mainstream students due to their fragile medical conditions.

“It’s important that our students have similar access to typical, age appropriate activities,” she said.
“Many public schools plant gardens as part of the curriculum, so we are very pleased that our kids can have this experience.”

NEPC is an 80-bed skilled nursing facility for children in North Billerica, MA. Visit NEPC.org for more information.