A sensory garden that was established on the University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi Campus is proving to be the ideal training site for early childhood development (ECD) practitioners and students enrolled in ECD courses at the University’s Faculty of Education. It was recently used in a pilot project to empower ECD practitioners to start small-scale sensory gardens at their crèches and pre-schools.

According to Dr Martina Jordaan, Head: Community Engagement, Research and Postgraduate Students at the University’s Mamelodi Campus, sensory gardens include features, surfaces, objects and plants that stimulate our senses through touch, sight, scent, taste and hearing. Such gardens help to improve the health, mood and cognition of those who visit them, and provide space for physical activity. “Gardening and plant care help children develop gross and fine motor skills. At the same time, spending time outdoors, breathing fresh air, and being exposed to sunlight are good for children’s overall physical health.” She explains that sensory gardens are valuable educational tools. “As part of their development, it is important to introduce children to concepts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from an early age.”

Educators from 25 pre-schools and ECD centres in Mamelodi, Bronkhorstspruit and Eersterust were introduced to ideas for using sensory gardens, and how to start such a garden at their own schools. During the training sessions, the practitioners were shown how to use a sensory garden as an outdoor classroom to teach their learners basic lessons about the importance of water, the development of seeds and other science-based and nature-related concepts. Many of these schools indicated that they did not have a garden or similar outdoor area at their schools where the children could interact with nature.

A sensory garden introduces children to concepts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from an early age

The pilot project was made possible through funding received from the United States-South Africa Higher Education Network, which focuses on partnership building between higher education institutions in these two countries. It also allowed for on-site support during the final sessions from two visiting American scholars. In addition, the funding provided participating schools with plants and seeds to start greening their school grounds.

The sensory garden on the Mamelodi Campus was conceptualised and implemented in 2021 by students from the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology (including landscape architecture students) as part of their community-based project module, together with occupational therapy students associated with the Siyathemba Occupational Health Clinic on Mamelodi Campus. It is located next to the Mamelodi Animal Health Clinic, which is visited by members of the public daily. It has also developed into a safe space to be utilised by staff members.

The pilot project was concluded with a competition in which the schools could enter the gardens they had developed at their schools following the training they had received. “It was lovely to see how the participants had implemented many of the ideas and concepts that were shared with them,” remarked Dr Jordaan. They displayed enjoyment of their developing gardens, which included everything from flowers blooming in painted tyres to colourful ribbons and hanging gardens made from cooldrink bottles. The winner of the competition was Vhathu Phanda Early Development Centre in Mamelodi, with Suikerbekkies Pre-Primary in Eersterust, Lethabo Pre-school in Bronkhorstspruit and Bophelong Community Children’s Home in Mamelodi East as runners-up.

The Mamelodi sensory garden had been managed by Dr Jordaan together with the University’s Department of Facilities Management during the pilot phase. It will now continue with the University’s Education students, who will assist with the implementation of training for teachers at crèches and pre-schools to develop similar small-scale sensory gardens. Three training sessions have already been planned for the coming year.

The further roll-out of the project includes the use of a training manual that has been developed, while students from the Department of Geography are developing a story map in the ArcGIS digital storytelling programme, which uses custom maps to explore nearby locations. This will provide added visibility to the individual schools’ sensory gardens.