This mindful activity starts with looking out into the world, listening, touching, and smelling all that’s different, and ends with looking within and describing a feeling.
Materials:
- An environment to explore with multiple senses
Instructions:
The basic instructions to this activity is simple, we ask the children to find:
5 things that look different to your eyes,
4 things that sound different to your ears,
3 things that feel different when you touch,
2 things that smell different with your nose,
and 1 feeling in your heart.
It is a wonderful activity to do as part of a walk in nature or around the city, exploring our school playground, or during a family trip. Give children ample time to explore with each of the senses. Move slowly and deliberately from one sense to another – Have everyone share what we see with our eyes before moving onto listening with our ears, and similarly with touch, smell, and finally, the feelings in our hearts.
Modifications:
To add a calm and quiet quality to the process, ask and model for the children: “Each time you see something, hold up one finger. We will wait till when everyone has 5 fingers up to share out loud.” This is helpful if you would like to avoid children shouting out everything they experience with their senses. On the other hand, the children’s exuberance while exploring with senses can be joyful and exciting, and you might want to encourage that. You know your children best, adapt the activity accordingly.
After children are used to the routine, you could add elements of challenge by being more specific, for example, ask them to find:
5 things that are yellow,
4 sounds that are made by animals,
3 things that feel ticklish, etc.
Acknowledgment: Thanks to Tom Davidge for sharing the original version of this activity with us.