Direct Experience
Meet a Tree
- Direct Experience
- Empathy, olfactory and tactile awareness
- Day / forest
- 2 or more
- 4 years and up
- Blindfolds
This game is for groups of at least two. Pair off. Blindfold your partner and lead him through the forest to any tree that attracts you. (How far will depend on your partner's age and ability to orientate himself. For all but very young children, a distance of 20-30 yards usually isn't too far.)
Help the "blind" child to explore his tree and to feel its uniqueness. I find that specific suggestions are best. For example, if you tell children to "Feel the tree," they won't respond with as much interest as if you say, "Rub your cheek on the bark." Instead of, "Explore your tree," be specific: "Is this tree alive? ... Can you put your arms around it? ... Is the tree older than you are? ... Can you find plants growing on it? ... Animal signs? ... Lichens?"
When your partner is finished exploring, lead him back to where you began, but take an indirect route. Now, remove the blindfold and let the child try to find the tree with his eyes open. Suddenly, as the child searches for his tree, what was a forest becomes a collection of very individual trees.
A tree can be an unforgettable experience in a child's life. Many times children have come back to me a year after we played Meet a Tree, and have literally dragged me out to the forest to say, "See! Here's my tree!"
* from Sharing Nature with Children, © 1998 by Joseph Cornell
