ACTIVITY: “Writing With Your Senses”

Yesterday’s guest blog post by Joanna Tebbs Young on the benefits of nature journaling (and journaling in genera) was fantastic and really inspiring! Now here she provides us with a sensory journaling activity that you can do with the children n your life! Thanks Joanna! You really make me want to write!

Go outside. Look around and choose one thing to focus on: the big shade tree, the worm wiggling in the soil, the soil itself, the water in the watering can…

Look at it for a while: What does it look like? What shape do you see? What colors? Does it remind you of anything else? Write it down.

Touch it. Hold it if you can, feel it in/on your fingers, your toes: What does it feel like? Does it feel like anything else? Write it down.

Smell it. What does it smell like? Yucky? Sweet? Like nothing at all? Does it smell like anything else you know of? Write it down.

Listen to it: Put your ear close. Do you near anything? Is it buzzing or slushing or squeaking? Is there no noise at all? Write it down?

Taste it: DON’T taste anything unless you have checked with an adult that it is ok! If it is… What does it taste like? What does it feel like on your tongue? Write it down.

Feel it: What do YOU feel like inside when you look at it, touch it, smell it, listen to it, and taste it? Happy, calm, excited, curious…? Listen to the words inside your body and write them down (or draw a picture of you showing how you are feeling).

Remember that journaling can be done with all ages, in many different places indoors and out, and can also encompass drawings. The journal can be handmade or store bought, but the most important thing is that it is visually and texturally inspiring to the journaler.

BIO: Joanna Tebbs Young is a certified Instructor through the Center for Journal Therapy and a candidate for a MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College. She is co-founder of Allen House Coaching Collaborative & Writers’ Room in Rutland, Vermont where she runs her practice, “Re-INK Your Life!” Workshops & Training. She blogs at http://wisdomwithinink.com and writes the “Circles of Community” column at http://rutlandreader.com.

Seeds to Sprout:

Want more ideas on nature journaling with children? Watch this little video of Clare Walker Leslie showing children how to journal and inspiring adults to get children outdoors. She also talks a bit on her newest book that is a great accent to my and Joanna’s work.

Did you miss Joanna’s awesome blog post “Journaling and Children- It’s a Natural Fit!” yesterday? Well check it out today!

Wings, Worms, and Wonder has an entire subchapter on nature journaling with children and a pattern for creating your own nature journal. With the “senseofwonder2013” sale, now through August 21, get a discount when you enter senseofwonder2013 into the coupon code! Buy a copy now before the sale and the summer gets away from you and do this activity in your own homemade nature journal!