Mini Garden Pots

Gardening and getting crafty can bring so much joy! This simple sensory activity encourages people to interact with various textures and aromas – from soil to shells – and proudly create their own mini garden in a pot.

It can then be displayed in the garden or inside – that way they can show it off to friends and family who visit. You might like to do the gardening outside if it’s warm.

You’ll need

1. A medium-sized terracotta pot (roughly 20-30cm in diameter)
2. Soil
3. Small trowel
4. Decorations for the garden, such as pebbles, stones, shells or decorative ornaments, like a small house or fence
5. 2 or 3 types of plants (preferably fairly hardy varieties)
6. 1 ½ lolly sticks

The Activity

1. Encourage the person/group to fill up their pot with soil, scooping with the trowel
2. Get them to make 2 or 3 holes with their fingers, spaced apart, to plant their flowers. Take the time to talk about how the soil feels and smells
3. Once the flowers are in place, it’s time to decorate their mini garden
4. Encourage them to choose and place their decorations wherever they wish, asking them to talk about the garden as they go. Perhaps asking questions to help spark conversation, such as, “What colours are you choosing?”, “Does it remind you of a garden you used to have?”, “What’s your favourite plant?”
5. At each stage, invite them to enjoy the feel of the soil, the smell of the plants, and the shapes and textures of the decorative items
6. Once they’ve finished, glue half of the lolly stick to the longer stick to create a signpost and write their name on it. E.g. Betty’s Garden

Top tip

This activity doesn’t end here. Encourage everyone to care for their garden long after the activity finishes, with watering, pruning and tending.