By Stephanie Atteneder
I was invited to teach the children about the forest with the 5 senses.
We started with some sensory games.
Touching: blindly feeling various objects (known and unknown)
Apple, orange, pine branch, spruce cone, Bockerl, hood, …
After feeling and passing blindly in a circle, I placed everything face down in the center. Their task was then to consider if everything was there or if something was missing and if so, what! I was pretty impresse, because some even knew in what order the items came!
We also immediately discussed the respective cones and twigs – and got other representatives. Spruce, fir, pine – talked about the differences of cones and branches!
Taste: I cut up some of it and distributed it into the children's open hands. The task was to taste blindly. Other vegetables or fruits were added. Celery stalks, nuts, banana, ....
We collected again in the group the experience together.
How did it taste?
What consistency does it has?
Smell: next exercise: the got things to smell – like Banana, ginger, lemon, forest floor, bark, ...
Listen:
Rope walk
Then I prepared them for the rope walk. I explained to them their task, that it was now very important to be quiet and with themselves, in order to be able to experience everything uninfluenced by the others.
- Their task was to sit or stand blindly in a circle and listen for sounds until I called them.
- What sound is farthest away?
… loudest?
… very close?
What sound above them or below them?
Talking circle: We did a talking circle with a magic wand. Where everyone could talk about their experiences.
Seeing: Finding objects
On the way back through the rope walk, they tried to find with their eyes as many objects as possible, which doesn’t belong to the nature.
