- Home
- Canvas Guide
Partial Progress - Circles (browser only)
Ourselves
Objectives
To observe what it is like to explore without sight.
Resources
📄 Senses Cards | Feely bag (this can be a bag of any material, so long as it is not see-through) | Items for the feely bag – see lesson plan for details | Outdoor environment | Scarf (for a blindfold)
Vocabulary
touch | sight | smell | taste | hear | sense
Today's Lesson
What to Get Ready
Prepare a feely bag with several different items inside it, varying in texture, shape, weight, and so on. Choose some that are noisy, for example, a squeaky toy. Prepare the 📄 Senses Cards from the session resources.
Introduction
Ask your student to list the five senses. Tell them that often all of our senses, or many of them, work together at the same time to help us to work things out.
Ask your student to have a go at identifying an item in the feely bag. Ask them to first feel the item from the outside of the bag before putting their hand in. Ask them to talk about and describe what they are feeling.
Whilst they are doing that, ask:
‘What senses do we need to work out what the item is?’
‘What senses are we not using?’ (sight)
‘What senses are we using in the lesson, paying attention to what is happening?’ (hearing)
‘How many senses are we using at the same time?’
Allow your student to guess what they thought was in the bag, and then pull it out without looking inside. Repeat this for the other objects.
Main Activity
Then, if possible, take them outside, explaining that they are going to use their five senses outside too. Ask them to choose a 'senses' card from the bag. (Alternatively, they could just pick one from your hands.)
Explain that they are going to think harder about that sense in particular, as they explore the environment. So, if they have 'Sight' they will walk around and look carefully at things, but will try not to touch or feel.
Explain that it is too difficult to ignore other senses, but that it is useful to have to think about how a particular sense helps us explore. After some time, ask them to share their experiences and thoughts. Ask if they were surprised by having to think harder about one particular sense.
Apply
Now, ask your student to be brave enough to be blindfolded. When the blindfold is in place, lead your student around and get them to experience things without being able to see them.
When they have done this, ask your student if they noticed anything different about how they felt when they were being led around. Were they more cautious about feeling things? Did they worry about where they were going?
Ask: ‘How did that change the experience? Was it easier?’
Review with your student what is was like to explore the outside with, and then without, sight. Talk about what it might be like for people who are blind and that sometimes their other senses become more developed. Ask if they noticed any interesting smells whilst they were outside (the smell of flowers, leaves, soil, for example).