Budbrooke Primary School Sensory Garden
At the Garden Furniture Centre, we love helping our local community whether it is big or small. Recently, we were approached by gardening enthusiast Eliza who is a student at Budbrooke Primary School asking us to help make a difference by donating one of our fantastic products for their new project. We were extremely flattered and very willing to help in any way we could! With this, we have donated one of our Darwin benches to provide a place for pupils, parents, and teachers to sit and enjoy the beautiful sensory garden the students have created.
The Project
During the summer term, the classes of Year 5 and 6 have been hard at work designing their own sensory gardens for current and future students. This project has been thoroughly planned with an immense collaborative effort from all the pupils to utilise the unused and overgrown space at the school.
What is a sensory garden?
A sensory garden is pretty much how is sounds; its basic objective is to stimulate all your primary senses (touch, sight, scent, taste and hearing) using plants, ornaments, surfaces and much more. Fundamentally, it is a space purposefully designed to create a calming atmosphere which can be enjoyed by everyone, especially all the pupils at Budbrooke Primary School where it will also act as a place to remember the Year 6 leavers.
What are the benefits?
Sensory gardens do have a multitude of uses. Some are used to provide opportunities for developmental learning, educational enhancements, and bodily awareness to create a positive learning experience for any visitor. What is more, it is a great way to encourage children to be more aware of their environment and to develop explorative skills which can lead to more discussions in classrooms and even with each other!
How do you stimulate the senses?
There are many ways to inspire all five main senses with some very simple techniques. Take a look below to see what resources and methods can be used for each category…
Touch
Incorporating touch into a sensory garden can be achieved primarily through durable and textured plants whether they are soft, furry, rough, or slightly sharp. You can also use rocks or stones with different textured surfaces to heighten this sense.
Smell
Aromatic plants and flowers are the obvious choices here, with the likes of lavender, sage, and thyme being the most popular options to fill the garden full of delicious fragrances. It is best to use as many herbs as possible as you can crush these in your hands to fully grasp their flavours.
Sight
Choosing colourful plants and flowers to coincide with the seasons is the best way to offer a feeling of relaxation and respite. Mirrors, water features, and even birdbaths can encourage wildlife to enter the garden to provide even more visual stimuli. Furniture is also a great addition to stimulate sight, espeically with striking teak benches or elegant gazebos.
Taste
This may be tricky to achieve, however there are many ways to incorporate taste within a sensory garden. Planting herb gardens not only stimulates smell but generates sensations for your taste buds due to their fabulous flavours and fragrances. Alternatively, you can include a section to grow vegetables such as tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, edible flowers, or you can even plant fruit trees to ensure there is always opportunity to encourage your taste buds.
Hearing
To generate sounds in your garden, you can add certain accessories such as windchimes and birdbaths as they produce a tranquil tone using wind and enticing birds with their lyrical vocals. Water features and fountains are also a great source in producing soothing sounds to create the perfect setting for everyone to enjoy.
We hope everyone at Budbrooke Primary School will enjoy their stunning sensory garden, and we are so impressed and pleased to see our product go to such a worthy cause!
