First sensory garden opens in Svobodny with Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk support

August 4, 2023 12:02

A sensory garden has opened at the Svobodnensky correctional orphanage. Together with the children, the opening ceremony was attended by Andrey Belousov, Deputy Director General of Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk, and Galina Tkachenko, Assistant Commissioner for Children's Rights of the Amur Region in Svobodny.

The sensory garden is a contemporary modular therapeutic space. Its components are manually assembled from natural materials such as wood, sand, grass, plants, cones, sea pebbles, and other stones. A positive effect on children is achieved through tactile sensations when touching various natural surfaces and the plant care skills development. Children can walk barefoot, touch and smell plants. Educators use special techniques to form motor skills and relieve nervous tension during ecotherapy. The garden site is located in the orphanage specifically because it has children with special needs who require special attention. The modern rehabilitation environment provides them with new opportunities for development and adaptation.

«Special training is provided in the orphanage to children having speech and mental development disorders. We have tried to select and place tactile, visual, olfactory stimuli that have a positive effect on all organs of kids in one place. It is thanks to the help of the Amur GPP that we have managed to open this garden,» says Elena Smerdova, Director.

The project was implemented by the administration of the orphanage with the financial support of Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk LLC and its employees.