Exploring
Everything that we do involves
exploring, be it experiencing new sounds, textures, tastes, landscapes, other
cultures, experiences/materials, reality or fantasy, concrete or abstract. All
give opportunities for offering clients ways of accessing multisensory worlds
of experience and creatively expressing themselves within them. When creating
such exploratory environments, it is worth considering some key elements to the
activity;
HOW TO GET THERE - making travel plans, looking at/making maps, buying tickets etc,
travelling over land or sea, by climbing mountains, or crossing rivers, through
a dark forest, or shifting mists,
MODE OF TRANSPORT - on a boat, plane, sledge, spaceship, air balloon, submarine or on foot - all give opportunities for creating different experiences and modes of travel
Think about specific
costume/accessories - a straw sunhat for hotter climes, goggles and flippers
for diving, a helmet for astronauts
Maybe pirate hats/scarves for sailors, furry hats for a snowscape. Keep it simple and easy to put on, like ponchos for a boat trip. (See costume)
THE DESTINATION - wherever you choose to go will inspire ideas for appropriate
props and resources to include, for example, the surface of Mars might be a
place to explore sand and rocks and strange creatures, a step back to a Saxon
village would need grasses, fire and a simple shelter, at the bottom of the sea
one might discover a coral reef and coloured fish, in Japan an Iris garden
SOUNDS & MUSIC encountered in a particular place - this might involve sound effects, like the sea and seagulls, vocalising and songs, or specific sets of instruments i.e. gongs in Tibet,
wooden instruments in a woodland glade, harps and lyres in Ireland...
Meeting
a character/puppet who might inhabit the environment enables communication and
interaction in a variety of ways; being brave, caring for, feeding, dancing
with, having fun!
A
focused, communal activity is good for drawing a group together, encouraging
interaction and socialisation, such as working together to gather things.
Perhaps preparing a meal, celebrating with dance, or simply exploring the resources become part of the journey.
JOURNEY'S END - often a good place for a 'chill', somewhere the group can relax
together when they have achieved their goal; around a fire perhaps or lying
under a starry sky.
