Hudson preschoolers, kindergartners planting the future in new sensory garden
In a world where technology and screens constantly bombard children, two early development specialists are creating an oasis to give young learners respite from the digital distractions.
At the McDowell Early Learning Center in Hudson, Lauri Doxsey, occupational therapist, and Ashley Lowe, intervention specialist and preschool teacher, are spearheading an effort to install a sensory garden outside the facility. Funding for the project comes from the Hudson Garden Club, the GDP Group and the Hudson Public Schools Endowment Fund.
"In this primarily digital age," Doxsey said, "they don't get as much multi-sensory learning as we would like them to have, so being able to go out and touch, and smell, and see all these different stimuli that are sensory based will be just a different way for them to learn."
The garden will be built out to include a reading area, birdhouses, pollinator houses, murals painted by high school students and differently textured tactile zones. They school also is exploring the possibility of adding rain barrels.
"The hope is that they'll be able to take their shoes off, even, and they'll have different areas that they'll be able to walk barefoot and be able to feel some of those different textures with their feet, with their hands," Doxsey said. There will be balance beams installed as well that will help the children with motor function related to equilibrium, balance, and motion.
The plants chosen for the garden were picked for how they interact with students' sense of smell, sight, taste, and touch. Student-designed stepping stones will be added too, as will a large vibrantly colored xylophone to meld sight and sound. To the rear of the garden is a softly gurgling fountain, plugged into an outdoor outlet.
Sowing the soil
On Tuesday, as the sun struggled to shine through the clouds, preschool and kindergarten students planted the flora they've been growing indoors from seed — echinacea and chamomile, for instance — and marigolds and zinnias from trays, into a handful of raised garden beds. This is one of the first steps in the installation of the garden.
Two years ago, McDowell Early Learning Center moved into its building on North Hayden Parkway. Outside of the preschool wing was a grass space that hadn't been touched since the transition of the building from elementary school to preschool and kindergarten facility.
"We wanted to utilize it to expand our outdoor space for these students," Lowe said, adding that her students were thrilled to get started. That excitement was on display Tuesday afternoon when they ventured outside to begin planting.
Each bed was marked out with colored tongue depressors, indicating where the children could place their plants. Some used their hands to dig the holes, others used the brightly colored sticks.
Staff and students alike got their hands dirty, and school principal Beth Trivelli made an appearance. She said that she was "overjoyed" when Doxsey and Lowe came to her with the plan for a sensory garden.
Trivelli hopes that the students helping plant the garden will come back in their middle school and high school years to help with the upkeep.
"I'm really proud of Lauri Doxsey and Ashley Lowe for collaborating together, and the community support we received," Trivelli said.
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Sensory garden comes to Hudson's McDowell Early Learning Center
