Playground for Children from the Special Education School and Institutions Complex

All you have to do is visit the Aviva Foundation’s “It Matters to Me” website and vote for the initiative  HERE: “Me in the Garden – We’re Building a Sensory Garden” by providing your email address. It takes just one minute! The winner will be decided by the number of votes collected; the campaign ends on 14 June 2015.

The main aim of the “Me in the Garden” project is to develop a green area at the District Complex of Special Education Schools and Institutions in Bolesławiec as a multisensory garden equipped with exercise and play facilities. We want to create a place for active recreation, play and integration in a school-garden environment.

A multisensory garden combines horticultural therapy through working in the garden and environmental activities with the concept of multisensory stimulation, using elements and structures typical of Snoezelen design, such as a gazebo, stone wall, fountain, swing, and exercise equipment adapted for children with intellectual and physical disabilities, including a basket swing, spring bridge, movable ramp, carousel and rope apparatus.

The garden is planned to be planted with lush, colourful vegetation, which will enliven the surroundings and create a natural protective barrier against excessive car exhaust fumes and noise from the street. Areas such as a vegetable garden, fruit garden and sensory path will be created, forming the basis for education and further activities in subsequent years, such as a bird canteen, as well as teaching pupils about nature and ecology. To make the plants more accessible to children in wheelchairs, they will be placed at different heights. The plants will be selected to stimulate all the senses: sight, touch, smell, hearing and taste. In addition to arrangements typical of Snoezelen therapy, the garden will include exercise and recreation equipment adapted for pupils with disabilities.

The multisensory garden will be located at the District Complex of Special Education Schools and Institutions in Bolesławiec. Free activities will be held in the garden for children with intellectual and physical disabilities of varying degrees, as part of both school and extracurricular activities.

Information: Stowarzyszenie Wspólna Radość