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At this time of year we start thinking about spring and all the wonders the season brings! So, this week we are revisiting one of our favorite activities: A sensory walk.
Sensory walks are a great way to slow down and experience the world around us. They are also accessible, easy, and fun because they do not require any special planning, materials, or time.
To take a sensory walk, simply take a walk and focus on one sense at a time. If walking with friends, assign each person a different sense to focus on and share with the others. What can you see, hear, smell, touch, or taste?
If you need additional prompts or a little more direction, start with these questions:
- Sight: Look for particular colors or shapes. Can you find the alphabet in shadows or natural shapes? Play “Eye spy” and point out things you see. Ask thought provoking questions such as, “How can we tell, just by looking, whether the wind is blowing?”
- Hearing: Can you identify birds or other animals by their sounds? What human made sounds do you hear (cars, bicycles, footsteps). Could you navigate with your eyes closed? How would you know, just by listening, when you reached a corner?
- Smell: What does the air around you smell like? Which are human-caused smells and which are natural smells? Can you identify where the smell is coming from? Describe it.
- Touch: Use your hands to touch the bark on trees or any other plants you find (be careful to only touch and not remove leaves or bark, etc.). How does it feel? How else do you feel things? Can you feel the sun or wind on your face? What about the path beneath your feet?
- Taste: Does the air have a taste? How could you describe it? Do snacks your brought taste different on a walk than in your home? What might ___ taste like?
