Nature comes alive when we turn up our senses. There’s so many rhythms to explore: The sound of bird song, the feel of the tree bark, the taste of wild edibles, the sight of leaves dancing in the wind, and the smell of a wildflower. With the senses turned up, the Earth takes on an almost magical air.
Taking a timeless wander through the forest with our senses turned up is a real adventure! It’s even better for children if there’s a game element to it, and this is where the animal senses come in.
What You Need:
Access to nature.
The 5 senses, associated with animals. The ones I use are below, you might have to adapt to the animals that live in your area.
How To Play:
Introduce the 5 animals you’re going to model your senses on. Give the children time to fully explore each one, moving and acting like the animal.
1. Hearing: Deer Ears - Imitate the large, satellite-like ears of deer.
2. Smell: Coyote Nose - Put your nose to the ground, then smell the air.
Mollie showing excellent Coyote Nose abilities!
3. Touch: Raccoon Touch - Imagine you’ve got the super-sensitive raccoon fingers.
4. Taste: Snake Tongue - Flick your tongue in and out like a snake, tasting the air.
5. Sight: Owl Eyes - Relax your eyes and see everything at once, super-sensitive to movement.
Then, go on an adventure, using the new senses! Explore everything, especially the small things that usually get overlooked; A patch of moss, a distant bird call, a fallen leaf. It’s often in the little things the deep relationships with nature are created.
Things To Remember:
It’s not the quantity of how far you walk that’s important, it’s the quality of the experience you have along the way.
Happy animal adventures!
Copyright (C) Simon Paul Harrison 2013. All Rights Reserved.
Feb 15, 2013 @ 09:19:01
Love this!