Art and horticultural activities are widely used in educational and therapeutic work but how to adapt and apply them with neurodivergent youth? And how can educators, art and occupational therapists, special needs teachers, social workers and parents successfully put them into practice?
These are among the topics we focus on with our project “Diverse Minds, Creative Sparks” (DiMiCs), (2025-1-PL01-KA210-YOU-000354049).
As a first step, we turned to experts and special educators working with neurodivergent young people and asked them about the biggest challenges they face, teaching and workshop strategies they apply and the activities they organize in their daily work. We also invited them to share their recommendations for improvement of extracurricular art and horticultural therapy-based sessions.
From the shared experience and ideas, we learned that:
- Art therapy, sensory-based activities, horticultural workshops, experiential learning, and structured creative tasks are especially beneficial for neurodivergent youth. These approaches improve their emotional regulation, concentration, confidence, participation, gradual development of manual skills, and social interaction.
- Educators, art and occupational therapists, special needs teachers and social workers supporting neurodivergent young people want more opportunities for professional exchange and peer learning. Thеsе will allow them to discuss different approaches, to learn from their colleagues, and to expand their portfolio with art- and nature-based methods.
- Extracurricular art- and horticultural therapy-based activities are highly valuable for neurodiverse youth when they are individualized, sensory-aware, well-structured, and connected to real-life development.
If you like to read all shared ideas, practices and conclusions from the co-creation sessions in Poland, Bulgaria and Türkiye, check out the Collective report “Use of art and horticultural activities with neurodivergent young people”.
The project Diverse Minds, Creative Sparks” (DiMiCs), (2025-1-PL01-KA210-YOU-000354049) is co-funded by the Erasmus + Programme of the EU.
2025-1-PL01-KA210-YOU-000354049 
Co-Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE). Neither the European Union nor FRSE can be held responsible for them.