Level One (Part 2)

People feel things in their bodies before they understand things in their minds. Engaging children and adults in the natural world in a sensory-embodied way is where learning begins. This chapter explores how the foundations of a child's connection with nature are built through engaging three more ‘hidden’ senses. The vestibular system is all about how people move and balance, and the ability to feel grounded and to move with purpose. Proprioception is the sensation people get through their muscles, tendons and joints that tell them where their bodies are in space and how they are moving. And interoception is the interpretation and understanding of internal organs and the messages they send. After describing each sense, a page from the Nature Passport offers five or six activities to guide children's engagement and to help adults understand the relationship a child has with the natural world, plus an explanation of how each activity helps.