Clearcreek Elementary: Sensory Garden

Dayton Daily News Article, July 2018

Four (4) staff members from Clearcreek Elementary have begun work on a sensory garden, which is to be used by students in Preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade at Clearcreek Elementary. The sensory garden will be housed in Clearcreek Elementary’s courtyard, as an area for students and teachers to use throughout the school year.

A sensory garden is a self-contained garden environment that allows both students and staff to enjoy a wide variety of sensory experiences, helping to stimulate each individual’s senses. Sarah Wilguess, an Occupational Therapist, Tina Krukenberg, a 1^st Grade Teacher, Amy Parks and Dawn Williams, both Interventional Specialists at Clearcreek Elementary have taken the lead on the sensory garden project, along with the help of numerous community volunteers and organizations.

Occupational Therapist Sarah Wilguess said, “We all have different senses we take in that include sight, smell, taste, hearing, or touch. Due to a more sedentary lifestyle nowadays, in the day of technology, our students can sometimes come to school missing key components of filling their sensory buckets. When these sensory buckets don't get filled, in order to balance the child out, we can often see more needs within the school setting. A sensory garden opens the door for these buckets to be filled.”

Clearcreek Elementary 1^st Grade Teacher, Tina Krukenberg, continued, “Within a typical classroom environment, our students are encouraged to maintain calm bodies and organized minds, in order to be able to transition throughout their day. We feel a sensory garden can further elevate student engagement.”

The Clearcreek Elementary sensory garden will include a water play station, hop scotch for counting numbers, a music wall to allow the exploration of different sounds, a bridge, trees, plants, and a variety of green space. 

Amy Parks, an Intervention Specialist at Clearcreek Elementary, said, “Throughout the sensory garden children can visit various interactive, multi-sensory stations to reinforce their skills needed for the classroom.”

Dawn Williams, an Intervention Specialist at Clearcreek Elementary, states, “The sensory garden will also be a space where students who may become overwhelmed with noise to have accessibility to a space that provides peace and quiet in order to calm them. The sensory garden experience will allow students to be more successful academically, emotionally, and socially.”

Fundraising, donations, and volunteer work has been a large contributing factor in the development of the sensory garden. In May 2018, an Ice Cream Social was held for 1^st Grade students and families at Clearcreek Elementary. Prior to the event, 1^st Grade students created, glazed, and decorated clay bowls, which were then sold, in order to help raise money for the initial start of the sensory garden project. K&W in Springboro, Scoops Ice Cream in Centerville, and Cold Stone Creamery in Miamisburg graciously donated ice cream for the event. Following this event, the Springboro Schools Board of Education donated $1,000 to the sensory garden project.