Article Directory :: Health & Fitness Articles

Have You Thought About Winter Gardening for Autistic Children?

By Bonita Darula

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 20Dec2009 Word count: 538 Viewed: 182 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Winter gardening for autistic children during the cold months is exciting, fun, and enjoyable. How do you get started with this gardening project when there is snow on the ground?

First, one must realize there are children with autism who enjoy seeing green things grow. To start winter gardening, introduce the individual to some black potting soil, that you can purchase at a small flower shop, hobby store and sometimes your all-in-one, stop and shop stores. You can buy some seeds, or you can save seeds by drying them out, on newspaper or paper towel before winter arrives to plan ahead.

The second step is, to acquire some small clay pots, empty styrofoam coffee cups, or small peat pot containers, all of these will work, but you only need one choice for starting the seeds to grow. Make sure there are holes in the bottom of the containers for drainage.

Have your child with autism help you load the containers you chose, with dirt, and pack it slightly tight. Instruct and show the child what the seeds will do. Let he or she, hold the seeds in their hand to get the feel of them. Explain to them what the seed will do when they are in the dirt. Give them a picture of how the plant, flower or small tree, will look after they grow during the winter gardening. You could even make it more interesting, by making a growing chart, with inches marked on it and place it inside the pot, glued to some flat or round sticks, so the child can view the progress of the seeds.

The third step, is to place the pots that are planted with seeds in a sunny window or on a try by a sunny window and tell the person, that during the winter months a garden inside, needs plenty of sun. Now, tell your child who has autism, to water the seeds to make them grow. Do not over water them. You may want to get them an empty drinking plastic water bottle, fill it up half way and let them hold the bottle, so they get the feel of it and allow them to pour the water on the dirt. After about a week or two, the seeds will start to erupt from soil.

Winter gardening for autistic children will bring them delight and encourage them to have respect for living vegetation, plants, flowers, and teach them there is life in living things.

Encourage your child to take responsibility to care for the plant, seeds, or small tree, on a routine daily basis. This gives them something to look forward to, due to the fact, the seeds are growing and changing in height and color and it gives them enthusiasm for new challenges and projects.

Another way you can create an interest with winter gardening for autistic children is to purchase some colored small stones or shells, and place them on the tray, where the pots of seeds will be to make it more attractive.

Winter gardening with seeds and plants requires patience. To teach autistic children to learn and enjoy this project, also requires patience. The end result gives the child a happy smile and joy.

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here

More articles by Bonita Darula

Free Report!
Ten Essential Secrets Of Article Marketing ... Grab Your Free
Copy Now:

Need Content?
Regular Top Quality Content for your Blog, Ezine or Website ...
Delivered Direct,
For Free!
Click For Details