Sensory Theatre

Source:

Natural Leaders - Environmental games and activities (SNH and NTS) available from the National Trust for Scotland

Time

1- 1.5 hours

You will need

• two stories with good actions (see example story in downloads)
• a cardboard box big enough to crawl through
• gathering space for story telling
• collecting boxes or trays
• enough blindfolds for half the group

Before the activity

Gather or make props such as hats and masks.

Write the stories needed by adapting/using the example provided (see downloads)

The activity

The children are taken to your chosen spot in a wood, by a pond or some wildlife friendly open area. They find the cardboard box and you explain that this is no ordinary cardboard box but a secret way into the world of wildlife. They are told that when they go through the box, they come out the other side as the creatures in the story. One leader goes through first and becomes the story teller. The other leader also goes through with the children and becomes one of the animals too.

The story teller welcomes the animals to the wood, pond, field etc. and addresses them as if they were wildlife creatures.

The children are split into two groups. Each group is told a story about the chosen creature - crafted to take in as much sensory detail as possible. The children are then encouraged to gather the natural props they will need to recreate the smells, sound and textures of the story.

When the props have been collected, one group is blindfolded and the other group use their props as the story is re-read. The children are encouraged to act out the story, make noises of snapping twigs, wind noises, squelching mud, splashing water etc. They can also drop leaves gently onto their audience for example, or the group can role-play pretending to be a fox or geese - whatever is making the noise or is part of the story. When the first story is over, the roles are reversed and the second story read.

At the end of the story, the children go back through the box to become human again, and are met by their, now human, leaders, who want to know where they have been and what they have seen and heard!

Suggested Follow up

• Migration tag in the section Sea, shore and sand
• Winter flocks   in this section, (will need to be adapted for use with younger children)
• Ask them to draw a scene from one of the stories they heard.

Downloads

Example story

Additional Information

Illustrated factsheets and posters - Search the 'Education and Teachers Resources' series at SNH Publications

Curriculum Links

• Language (main)
• Expressive Arts (main)

Age Range

1, 2