The Seven Senses - No. 2. Sound

This is the second in the series of weekly activities covering the seven senses. Last week we investigated taste. All you need for todays activity is a blindfold, or improvise with a scarf or a hat pulled down over the eyes! Try this out in an open space, make sure there’s nothing to trip over or crash into and keep a close eye on the child. Now cover their eyes, go and stand 10 paces or so away from the child and whisper ‘here I am’. Let the child turn themselves towards the sound of your voice, say again ‘here I am’. Its great fun for the child to learn how to totally rely on sound alone, and they are just unbelievably thrilled when they find you. Keep it simple and gentle, don’t move about, let them hone in on your voice and find you. This activity isn’t about you running around till they fall and hurt themselves and never find you (save that for parties!), its about getting them to fine tune their sense of sound. When they have found you, cover their eyes and play again. Its amazing how quickly they learn to hone in on sound alone. The first couple of times you may be saying ‘here I am’ quite a lot, after a few turns, you may only need to say it once or twice.

Now here’s your opportunity to tell them about bats! 'These furry flying creatures have perfectly good eyesight but in order to hunt tiny midges in the dark and to avoid colliding into obstacles, they rely on their hearing' … read more at Mooney Goes Wild.

Tips : Before you start the game explain that if you shout ‘stop’ it means they are about to walk into something and hurt themselves! The other rule is ‘no running while blindfolded!’.