Good morning my beautiful daisies, I woke up this morning to the sun shining, and the birds tweeting I think spring has finally arrived.
Apologies for not posting on here for a couple of days but I have been spending some Mother and Son time, however as he has opted for a little chill time on his play station so I thought I would sneak on in here and write a little something.
I thought as Easter is approaching and the kids will be on holiday soon that it may be an idea to talk about them!
They Believe In You!
THINGS TO DO
1. Dig out the pavement chalks and create colourful works of art on your patio or driveway. kids just love being arty and enjoy expressing themselves. My son loves aviation and planes and one summer had the whole of Edinburgh airports runways, and taxi ranks sketched out on the front drive, myself and my neighbour and her 2 kids joined in, it was FUN! he then went indoors and brought out his huge selection of planes and airport items including his air traffic control tower and positioned them appropriately 
2. I have a box in my garage full of garden toys, we have magic bubbles, coloured play sand, sand bunker and sand toys, also water bunker and water toys, super soakers and paddling pool and floats and pool toys, a huge garden umbrella and cushions and a Brazilian chair (that is kind of like a hammock) where my son can sit on with his Laptop etc should the notion take him.
I have also taken it upon myself to recently plant some pretties in the garden to attract insects and birds in to the garden that I know my son loves - Butterflies.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SENSORY GARDEN
Making your own sensory garden is not as difficult as you may think, all you need is a little imagination and you will be surprised as to how easy it actually is to turn a spare patch of grass in to your own little Never land
1. Kids love colour and movement so your first plan of action should be to turn boring old Greene’s green in to rainbow Brights Fairy land.
The simplest way to introduce colour in to your garden is with plants, nowadays you can buy beautiful plants that smell wonderful but that also serve a purpose, I have found one of the best plants that seem to tick both boxes simultaneously it’s a plant I have affectionatley named ‘The Butterfly Bush’ thus is a fast grower ( and a spreader so be careful where you plant it) in the summer it flowers and produces the most gorgeous purple flowers, these attract several winged wonders including butterflies. (see below)
Bring Nature To You.
The plant at the back is the ‘Butterfly Bush’
there is also Lavender, and various herbs upfront.
As You Can See It DOES Work
As you can see from the picture below it definitely works.
I also popped a sun stone up there which I don’t think you can see because of all the flowers, which the Butterflies use to sunbathe on, they just LOVE IT.
Another thing Butterflies seem to like is a roosting house or hang out, however this needs to be high enough up so that local cats cannot get at them, it also allows them to feel protected enough so that they do not feel vulnerable to small animals or birds that may be there natural predators in the wild.
Doing this will allow them to land in a safe environment so that they feel able to sit for longer periods of time.
Sensory doesn’t just have to be about colour it can be about wildlife too.
As you can see beside the Lavender pot there are several bags, these contain organic natural coloured play sand, this means that there have been no harmful additives or colourings added, making these ideal for safe play.
Basically this means that even if ingested accidentally, the fear of harsh chemicals has been removed. in turn – safer for the kids, and our mother nature, which of course means happier kids, therefore happier parents too
I put these bags of sand in to a bunker for my son, as he has special needs, and therefore needs a bigger pit to play in as he is 14 now and far from small in height, this allows him to play away quite happily amongst the different coloured sparkles for as long as he likes.
Please do remember though if you have a fixed sand pit, to ensure that while not in use it is covered properly, to prevent local kitties using it as a huge potty or other animals too.
Also squirrels will hide or bury food in an open sandpit if it is left exposed, this ones not so much harmful to the kids more frustrating for the squirrel that has opted to bury his dinner in there and then comes back later to find that his dinners locked up inside the sand box
2. Movement is important especially to a child with special needs, such as my own son, I found a store online that sells colourful windmills and wind catchers and sun catchers for very reasonable prices, these are all hand made or made from recycled items, these are wonderful and give small places to take the eye when relaxing or playing, the wind catchers catch the eye in various ways, I have a couple in rainbow colours the top parts are flowers (double sided) these spin and whirl around when the wind catches them, the bottom parts of them are like long strong streaming coloured ribbons that fly and dance in the breeze also. I find my son gets transfixed watching them while swinging or when he is having a quiet moment gazing off in to the sun.
As for the sun catchers they catch the sun light and reflect light again 2 must haves in a sensory garden, they mesmerize and captivate with there sparkles and shimmers as the light reflects off of them and bounces off other surfaces and objects around the garden.
3. Smell is another must have in a sensory garden, to entice garden dwellers and springlets outside, and to invigorate or relax those outside depending on what part of the garden they choose to hang out in.
For example – Choose relaxing plants and flowers in areas that you feel would be great for chilling out in, seating areas, eating areas, and soft sensory areas, Lavender is great to achieve this effect but do not over plant, as it can also stimulate if there is too much of it around the one spot.
I will post some more Sensory Garden tips and share some more pictures with you as soon as I can get snapping, meanwhile my lovelies pop your gardening gloves on and your imagination cap too, and see what creations you can come up with
Peace Love + Huggles
Always Allo x
As you can see butterflies like Lavender too.
Heal The World
Kid You Knot Kreations
The Box X Change
Metamorphosis
Awareness
