Increasingly, we are finding that children are demonstrating sensory integration challenges that present as behavioral challenges, anxiety, and being overwhelmed. These issues can impact learning and play. Join occupational therapist and therapeutic landscape design consultant Amy Wagenfeld and mom, gardener, and garden educator Em Shipman to learn how to design a garden or greenspace for kids intended to engage each of the body’s sensory systems.


We’ll share five specific activities to use in a garden or greenspace to help young children integrate and organize their senses, as well as tips and tricks for managing challenging sensory-related behaviors.

Learn about the eight sensory systems from an occupational therapy perspective

Understand the behavioral symptoms of sensory overload and sensory processing challenges in children

Learn how to design a garden or greenspace to engage each of the body’s sensory systems

Learn five specific activities to use in a garden or greenspace to help children integrate and organize their senses

Everyone who registers for the webinar will be entered to win a signed copy of Nature-Based Allied Health Practice: Creative and Evidence-Based Strategies by Amy Wagenfeld & Shannon Marder.

This evidence-based and accessible guide includes simple and fun ideas for therapeutic nature-based practices at any age. 

Em Shipman, MSM is Executive Director of KidsGardening with nearly 20 years of experience leading transformative programs in food systems, agriculture, and education. She holds a B.A. in Public Policy from Hobart and William Smith College and an M.S. in Nonprofit Management from Marlboro College Graduate School. Em is a passionate advocate for children and the planet and believes that garden-based learning and hands-on, placed-based education benefit both. Em has also worked as a professional gardener and garden designer and spends all of her free time (and then some) digging in the dirt. Em chairs her local school forest committee and volunteers for an award-winning Vermont-based children’s science museum. She sits on the School Garden Support Organization Network’s (SGSO Network) Governance Board.

Amy Wagenfeld, PhD, OTR/L, SCEM, EDAC, FAOTA is Principal of Amy Wagenfeld | Design. She is also on the faculty of the University of Washington Department of Landscape Architecture and the New York Botanical Garden. She is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and holds evidence-based design accreditation and certification (EDAC) through the Center for Health Design, specialty certification in environmental modifications (SCEM) through the American Occupational Therapy Association, and certification in Healthcare Garden Design through the Chicago Botanical Garden. Her work focuses on accessible and universal design, programming, and evaluation of indoor and outdoor environments that improve physical and emotional health, wellness, and learning. Amy presents and publishes widely on topics relating to interprofessional design and the importance of access to nature. Amy’s work recognizes that successful design must, at its core, support mental health and foster resilience.

This webinar will be recorded and available for viewing on this web page immediately following the presentation.

To turn on live captions during the presentation, please join using the Chrome browser and visit this page for instructions on how to turn them on: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/10538231?hl=en 

Coming to Our Senses: Fun & Easy Ways to Use Gardens to Enrich Sensory Integration