Garden Friends: A Sensory-Friendly Nature Hunt

You do not need expensive supplies to create a meaningful nature activity.

One activity in the Bronx Special Kids sensory gardening curriculum is our Garden Friends scavenger hunt. Children explore the garden looking for living things and signs of garden life, including ladybugs, ants, butterflies, bees, earthworms, snails, birds, spider webs, flies, and caterpillars.

You can recreate the activity in a community garden, park, schoolyard, backyard, or during a neighborhood walk.

Children can point to what they find, use a picture checklist, take photographs, draw, use a magnifying glass or binoculars, communicate through AAC, listen for birds, match an animal to a picture, or simply observe.

There is no requirement to touch insects or complete the entire list.

Our curriculum also introduces the jobs different garden friends perform. Bees and butterflies can help with pollination. Earthworms support healthy soil. Ladybugs can eat insects that damage plants. Birds, snails, spiders, and many other organisms are all part of the garden ecosystem.

Try asking: What do you see? What do you hear? What is moving? Which garden friend is your favorite?

The goal is exploration, not finishing a worksheet.

Source note: Adapted from the Garden Friends factsheet and Day 3 scavenger hunt in the Sensory Gardening Curriculum Packet.