It’s a great way to relax, keep fit and get in touch with nature, writes Jess Wilkinson.
Sensory walks can help people with sight and hearing loss to engage with nature and enjoy its many benefits, including mood boosts and wellbeing in the company of others. They are an easy way to try mindfulness, because they encourage you to slow down and be in tune with your surroundings. They can be particularly fun for children and young people, out in the wilds or in a smaller space such as a park or garden.
If you’ll be supporting someone who is deafblind, planning your route in advance can help make sure things go smoothly and reduce stress all round. You may also want to consider taking walk leader training. Walk the route yourself beforehand, note any uneven surfaces, check that there are places to rest, identify experiences that use a wide range of senses. Is it noisy? Consider if environmental noise is going to be an issue.
Make a map stick. This is a tactile indicator that provides information about the length, progress, and experiences of a walk. It’s a tool for receptive communication. You can use anything for your map stick—you don’t need any fancy equipment, but it needs to be made in advance of your journey with key information such as how long the walk will be, what is going to happen on the walk, and signals for key points in the journey (like stopping for lunch).
Collect memories and get creative. Pick up things like soft feathers, crunchy leaves, gnarled driftwood or smooth rocks. These could be attached to a journey stick to describe your walk or use them to make unique artwork. Sensory walks are the perfect activity to take inspiration from nature and create some artwork such as using your sense of touch to feel the texture of tree bark and create rubbings that you can take home. For this you just need a sheet of paper and pencil, pastels, or charcoal. If you’re walking on a beach, collect small pieces of driftwood and use their natural forms to create a driftwood sculpture.
You could use your sense of smell to enjoy the scent of wildflowers—these could even spark discussion among your group. Which one is your favourite? You could also use your sense of smell to appreciate familiar objects in new ways, such as the smell of tree bark after rain.
Connect with nature through taste. Take snacks inspired by plants you can find on a walk, maybe a refreshing rosehip flavoured drink, juicy strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, or crunchy hazelnuts and beech nuts
Sensory Walks can be a truly memorable and enriching experience when properly planned, and when our unpredictable weather is taken into account.
Author: Jess Wilkinson
Jess Wilkinson
Jess Wilkinson is the Marketing Office at Deafblind UK
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