Nature as Therapy: 6 Outdoor Sensory Activities for Sensitive Kids
There is nothing compared to the joy of watching your child happily cruising through the garden chasing a bee or jumping in a muddy puddle. These simple moments spent amongst nature are not merely fun but also deeply relaxing and rejuvenating. Highly sensitive kids who are easily overwhelmed by noise, texture and light can find indoor play areas to be overwhelming and extremely energy consuming. This is where the natural light and texture of the natural world saves the day!! Stepping for outdoor sensory activities can provide a unique and powerful way to attain emotional balance and physical grounding. In this article we will explore the different ways of harnessing nature's benefits through outdoor sensory activity, throughout all seasons of the year!
Regulation Through Outdoor Sensory Activities
Nature is full of boundless opportunities and emotional regulation is just one of them. It has the ability to calm the nervous system and to prevent overload of all kinds: sensory, emotional and physical. Outdoor sensory activities provide a gentle environment and a slowly changing rhythm that allows the child to find balance and peace without getting bored. Play therapy also helps a child to heal emotionally.
Research has shown that green spaces contribute to mental well being by relieving anxiety and stress. Similarly, dipping your feet in a cold lake or walking on the grass can both signal the brain to calm down thus settling an overactive system. A regulated outdoor exposure improves attention and sleep as well.
Highly sensitive children feel a lot of things and sometimes, it is important that they let those feelings out physically. Running across an open field or just feeling the fresh breeze can offer physical release and eventually help in recentering their nervous system.
In contrast to the highly digitized indoor spaces that have bright visuals and a variety of stimulations that may leave you confused, outdoor sceneries are gentle. The weather may change but the natural world does not require a child to filter out the harsh stimuli. It engages the brain gently, allowing the child to stay present. Long term exposure to green spaces has been linked to a decrease in problems concerning emotion, conduct and hyperactivity in children.
Outdoor Sensory Activities: The Nature’s Variety
It is a common misconception that outdoor sensory activities don’t have much to offer. Well, that’s not true!! Outdoor activities engage more senses than one. They require your whole body presence, allow for a physical workout while also soothing your brain simultaneously. Here are all the senses that the nature engages:
Prioception
Digging a hole in the sand, climbing a tree, running on the grass are all different forms of grounding proprioceptive input.
Sound
Nature offers calming sounds such as the rustling leaves, the gush of water or the birds singing!
Touch
Tactile input includes a variety of textures such as that of leaves, sand, mud and water all of which are deeply soothing.
Vestibular
Activities like swinging, spinning, running, jumping, or balancing are all forms of vestibular input which help develop bodily awareness and strength.
Sight
Nature is more than just greenery. It’s the colour of the sky on a rainy evening or a shift in the light through the day. It’s also the flowers and the animals that you get to see outdoors.
Smell
The sweet and sometimes unique smell of flowers, fruits and wet sand are all subtle rather than overpowering.
6 Outdoor Sensory Activities to Try
Stacking Stones
If you’re at a beach or a park with abundant rocks, you must try this! Allow your child to gather all rocks that they can find and ask them to stack these on top of each other carefully. This will engage their fine motor skills, and help them develop patience and focus. Let them find the rocks that work best for this activity and don’t worry if there are no rocks available. You can use shells, pinecones or just about anything else.
An Obstacle Course
Creating an obstacle course is fun, just like all outdoor sensory activities should be!! Designate a path with natural branches and trees that may require crawling under the branches, jumping over logs or climbing small rocks. Mark an end point and begin the challenge to see who conquers the obstacle course first. Whole body movements make use of both muscle and joints, thus promoting physical activity as well as coordination.
Listening Walk
Just like us adults, kids might sometimes want to unwind. And for this, a listening walk is the perfect activity. Just going out and tuning in with the environment while paying attention to all kinds of sounds can do wonders. Listen to the sound of the wind, rustling leaves, dogs and cats and even distant traffic. Later at the end, ask your child to name all the sounds they identified or carry a journal on the walk and record with them.
Barefoot Path
The soles of the feet allow you to balance on a surface but also provide sensory input that helps you stay present in the moment. Connecting with nature through this tactile input can make your child become more aware of their bodies and the surroundings. So, take out time and walk on the grass, sand, mud or smooth stones with them and experience moments of connection and calm.
Leaf Sorting
On days when you’re going out for a walk, don’t forget to take a small paper bag with you. Let your child collect all the fallen leaves that they can find and then when you have the time, ask them to sort the leaves on the basis of color, shape, size or texture. This will improve their categorization and motor skills. Once you’re done, you can paste the leaves on a journal to create a ‘leaf journal’ or you can even make a garland out of it.
Sensory Storytelling
Outdoor sensory activities are not all supposed to be physically captivating. Sometimes, kids might just want to sit in a park for a conversation. On such days, you can engage them in story telling sessions inspired by what you see around you. For example, you can give them prompts like ‘Once upon a time there was a cat who climbed a tree..’ or ‘A tree that felt sad..’ and let them explore different emotions and possibilities.
Outdoor Sensory Activities: Creating Safe and Predictable Routines
It is important to acknowledge that for highly sensitive children, outdoor sensory activities can also become overwhelming if not regulated properly. And so it is important to create a safe space for them. Firstly, build predictable routines surrounding outdoor activities. Allocate a day and time for going out so that your child knows when to expect it. Secondly, always choose familiar spaces where your child feels safe and confident. Allow them to participate by giving options like ‘Are we in the mood for Stacking stones or Story telling today?.’ Don’t forget to keep snacks and a small first-aid box, just in case!
Embracing Nature All Year Long
There is always some activity that you can do all year long. Nature has got you covered!
Spring: Plant a seed with your child just when it’s time for them to flourish or walk barefoot on new grass.
Summer: Go to the beach and feel the fresh water slip through your feet. Your child can also build castles with the sand!
Fall: Observe as the green leaves turn to brown and then fall. Collect the leaves and be creative with them!
Winter: Touch and feel the soft snow, mold it into shapes or just walk on it and see how your shoes leave an imprint on it.
Outdoor Sensory Activities: Make It A Habit
Once you’re fully aware of all the benefits of spending time in nature, you might want to make it a habit for both you and your child. The best way to do this would be to link an activity with a task. Like a walk in the park on Sundays after breakfast, or birdwatching after school. Invite everyone in the family to be a part of it so that it builds connection and shared routine through a relaxing time together!