Nature is the ultimate sensory experience. And she is there in abundance around us. “Why look beyond”, asks Durga, the head of therapy at Mirra who is almost obsessive about taking therapy beyond the four walls and towards nature.
In the fourth chapter of SEE (Sensory Experience Exhibition), we at Mirra explored this with our parents and children. About 35 children and their parents and a few grandparents attended this two day event held at Mirra on 31 August and September 1. Children explored all their senses – smelled and tasted different types of leaves, seeds and roots, and their products; some made their own snack by grating, depoding, stringing, peeling, pounding and scooping. They danced around wearing garlands, bracelets, headbands they made using flowers, fruits and seeds. They walked on coconut shell stilts or bamboo stilts, stamped clay, sat on a stone mat, played and made shapes with wet sand; hammered away with wood and tools like professional carpenters; painted using hands, leaves, stones, fruits and vegetables. Every child found something they were fascinated by. The therapeutic benefits of engaging with nature are immense. The ‘Aha’ moment for most parents was that sensory integration can happen by simple engagement with nature and her products every single day and at no cost