NATURE NOTES OUTSIDE ADVENTURES, PART ONE: BOOSTING THE SENSES USING SIMPLE SENSORY ACTIVITIES

Nature Notes

Outside Adventures, Part One: Boosting the Senses Using Simple Sensory Activities

By Amy Wagenfeld, PhD, OTR/L, SCEM, EDAC, FAOTA

SENSATION, THE FIVE BASIC SENSES, AND A NICE DOSE OF NATURE. YUMMY! THAT IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT IN THIS INSTALLMENT OF NATURE NOTES. IN PART TWO, I WILL DIP INTO SENSORY INTEGRATION, BUT FOR THIS ISSUE, WE WILL FOCUS ON THE FIVE BASIC SENSES INDEPENDENTLY.

Let’s get going by defining the five senses and what they do. According to the Merriam Webster online dictionary, sensation is “a mental process (such as seeing, hearing, or smelling) resulting from the immediate external stimulation of a sense organ” (www. merriam-webster.com, 2020). Basically, we take in cues from the environment, wherever we are, process it in our brain, and then act on it. For instance, we put a piece of bread in the toaster and, if you are me, tend to leave it in a bit too long, so of course, it burns. The result is it smells pretty unpleasant in our home for a few hours! This is a simple explanation of sensation.

The five basic senses are: smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), hearing (auditory), sight (visual), and touch (tactile). Sensation happens throughout every moment of our days.

Smell

The olfactory system enables us to smell. While our sense of smell is not as sharp as a dog, humans can detect one trillion smells, which is pretty amazing. Smell is a highly protective sense. Think of this: the smell of smoke evokes a fight or flight response to alert us to be aware of danger. We smell smoke and take action to find the source or remove ourselves from the situation.

Smell and taste are closely related. For many, the smell and taste of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies are tantalizing. The sense of smell begins at the back of the nose with a strip of neurons called the olfactory epithelium (brainfacts.org). Once the sensory receptors are activated in the olfactory epithelium, an electrical signal is sent to the olfactory bulb located in the base of the forebrain and then on to other brain areas tasked to identify a particular smell.

Taste

The gustatory system is located in the mouth and tongue, both of which have specialized cells that send messages to the brain to decode five specific tastes. We can identify five taste sensations: sweet (e.g., chocolate), sour (e.g., lemon), salty (e.g., chips), bitter (e.g., horseradish), and umami (e.g., miso). The bitter sensation is protective, as bitterness is sometimes equated with toxicity. However, please be aware that horseradish is not toxic! Umami, which is mentioned a lot in the “foodie world,” is referred to as the savory or delicious taste.

Hearing

The auditory system enables us to hear. Being able to hear is protective and plays a large role in communication. Please note I am not saying that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing cannot communicate, as that is not the case at all. This discussion is merely about what the auditory system’s function is.

The auditory system contains two parts: the peripheral system and the central system. The peripheral system is made up of the outer, middle, and inner ear as well as the auditory nerve, which carries information from the cochlea in the inner ear to the brain. The central system contains auditory pathways in the brain stem and the auditory cortex of the brain (https://www.lobe.ca/en/blog/protect-my-hearing/Auditory-system-works).

Sight

The visual system starts with our eyes. The visual system is made up of the eye, optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tract, lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), optic radiation, visual cortex, and visual association cortex (https://emedicine.medscape. com/article/1948576-overview). By forming images of one’s surroundings through light, the visual system allows any living creature to perceive their environment (https://courses. lumenlearning.com/wmopen-psychology/chapter/outcome-vision/).

Touch

The tactile system is responsible for interpreting touch, pressure, vibration, temperature, and pain information through the skin and then sending this information to the brain for processing. Because the skin covers the entire body, it is the largest sensory organ. There are touch receptors everywhere! One place on our bodies with a lot of touch receptors is behind our knees. There are two layers of skin; the outermost is the epidermis, while the thick layer beneath it is the dermis. This thick layer of skin is where the touch receptors are found.

Senses in Nature

With a brief introduction to the five basic senses, let’s apply this knowledge to nature-based activities. Below are a few simple ways to connect nature with the senses.

Smell

Taste

Hearing

Sight

Touch

Go outside or open a window after it rains. What do you smell?

Without looking, identify whether a food is sweet (e.g., a piece of mango) or sour (a slice of lime). Use foods your child tolerates and is safe for them to eat. Increase the complexity by adding in salty foods.

Listen. What bird sounds can you hear? What do they sound like?

Find three to five items that are green. Are the shades of green the same or different? Which is the lightest green and which is the darkest green?

Without looking, identify whether an object is smooth (e.g., a river rock), rough (e.g., a pinecone), warm (e.g., a stone that has been exposed to the sun), or cold (e.g., an ice cube).

Below is a bonus activity. Select one object found in nature. Think of ways the five basic senses can be activated when interacting with this object. My example is a basil plant.

Smell: When you rub a leaf between your fingers, what does is smell like? Does it smell like pizza or lemon? Note: there are many varieties of basil. Consider planting several in your garden or container

Taste: Pinch off a small piece of the leaf and put it on your tongue.

See: Are the leaves and the stem the same shade of green? Is the top and bottom of the leaf the same color? Hear: Do the leaves make a sound when the wind blows through them?

Touch: Pluck off a leaf and rub it with your thumb and index finger. How does it feel?

Until next time, when we will dive deeper into sensory integration and nature, I hope you spend as much time in or looking at nature as you and your family can. Enjoy its wonders and beauty!

Amy Wagenfeld, PhD, OTR/L, SCEM, EDAC, FAOTA, is Principal of Amy Wagenfeld | Design and Lecturer in the Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program at Boston University. She is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and the Center for Health Systems and Design at Texas A&M University and holds evidence-based design accreditation and certification (EDAC) through the Center for Health Design, specialty certification in environmental modifications (SCEM) through the American Occupational Therapy Association, and certification in healthcare garden design through the Chicago Botanical Garden. Amy presents and publishes widely on topics relating access to nature and is co-author of the award-winning book Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces published by Timber Press. When not designing gardens, researching, or developing garden and nature programs, Amy can be found happily digging in the dirt. Website: www.amywagenfelddesign.com Blog: http://workjournal.org/nurture-through-nature Email: amy@amywagenfelddesign.com