Sensory Scavenger Hunt: Nature Sounds

My daughter had  a friend stay over this weekend. Being 12 & 13 respectively, they spent most of their time sitting next to each other, TV on, texting friends. I kept kicking them out of the house as it was a nice outside, but it seemed like they kept going back to the electronics.

Usually, I just tell my daughter to give me her phone for a specified amount of time and do her homework, read or do some other activity, but I can't take away the phones of her friends.

So I enlisted their help with dinner and I gave them a challenge as we sat outside, husking corn on my patio.

I challenged them to a 'Sensory Scavenger Hunt' to see who could identify the most sounds.

They were not terribly enthusiastic as I had gotten them up off the couch and outside, away from cell phones & iPods and from watching "Soul Surfer" (an outstanding movie) for the 3rd time.

They blandly asked what the winner got. I told them that the winner got a 'free pass' for cleaning up the dinner dishes. They were slightly more enthusiastic at this point.

So I explained that all they had to do was sit (outside) and listen for 10 minutes and identify every natural sound they could hear. The phones were away at that point and phone sounds did not count. They agreed. They closed their eyes even though I didn't ask them to.

I began by identifying a woodpecker. My daughter said "Oh, is that what that is?"

My daughter's  friend identified a lawn mower in the distance. Even though it was not a 'nature' sound, I allowed it-the point of the activity was to get them to tune in with another sense other than their eyes.

The friend started naming sounds: a dog barking, a loud fan belt, someone emptying trash...my daughter noted that she would be able to play too & could hear better if her friend would stop 'blabbing' and just be quiet. The friend pointed out that my daughter has a 'bigger mouth' & louder voice then her, so she shouldn't be talking either....

So I suggested that they both just listen and they could write the sounds down later. They finally quieted and sat perfectly still. About 15 minutes later when I finished husking the corn, I told them they could open their eyes, and they asked if they could sit a few more minutes.

What?! Did they just ask to sit quietly a little longer?! Why of course they could! I actually did a little happy dance as I went inside to start dinner.

So 10 minutes later they came in the house and asked me for paper so they could write their lists.

Here is a partial list:

• mom husking corn
• the chair creaking
• loud radio (from passing car)
• birds (7 different calls that they imitated for me)
• a dog whining (next door)
• kids laughing
• wind chimes
• leaves blowing
• water running ( neighbor watering garden)
• roosters
• more dogs (hounds barking down the street)
• a church bell
• my breath
• my stomach growling
• peace

I noticed that the list got more introspective as I hoped it would. The girls started out noticing generic external sounds and ended up where I wanted them: listening to their own internal sounds. This skill is not merely about listening. Its also about introspection & understanding ourselves: who we are & what makes us tick.

Although younger children are more enthusiastic to play this game, I know that teens need it more. They are growing and transitioning and need to learn how to get control of their emotions instead of the other way around. This exercise gives them permission to examine themselves, their dreams and desires and the choices that they are making for themselves.

Encourage your teens to do this exercise for 10 minutes a day. They will most likely resist at first, but then will ask for the 'down time' and finally, just take it for themselves.  You can adapt this activity to have them listen to a classical (or popular) instrumental music piece and identify all the instruments they hear. Have them write for 5 minutes a list or a brief description of what the music did & how it made them feel. Or let them listen to a 'nature sound' track and identify what they can hear from that.

In all of my teen yoga classes, this is the activity the girls ask for the most, followed by the "Massage Train" (which I will discuss in another post) If they are asking for it, then it must be something they need. If they are not asking for it, then introduce it to them and they will.

Some of us call this by different names: mindfulness - meditation - stress management. Whatever you call it, and however you teach it, it is an important skill that serves many purposes, personally, socially, academically, profesionally and in all other aspects of Life.

Contact: barbara@bodylogique.com



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