Training Happy Hearts: Go on a Blind Listening Nature Walk for Pentecost

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Go on a Blind Listening Nature Walk for Pentecost

The other day, my daughter told me she would like to go on more walks this spring and summer. Thus, as I was thinking about ideas for Pentecost this year, a Blind Listening Nature Walk came to mind.

Going on a Blind Listening Nature Walk as a family, with friends, or with a co-op or church group could be a meaningful faith, trust, and nature experience.

What Concepts and Skills Does This Activity Teach?

Through a Blind Listening Nature Walk for Pentecost, children will focus on nature appreciation, sensory awareness, empathy, trust, listening, and remembering to follow the Holy Spirit's promptings.

What Is Needed?

This activity works best if you have two people per group, plus another person overlooking everyone as a second set of eyes for safety.

Each partner group will need a bandanna or strip of cloth to work as a blindfold and a short rope or second bandanna.

How to Facilitate a Blind Listening Nature Walk

{Note: The photos in this post were taken on a quick test run of the activity near our home. I have done similar blind walks on trails and in drama classes before and am planning one with a Pentecost theme, but have no pictures of it yet, of course. So, I snapped these just to give you an idea of what it might look like. Imagine trails and woods instead of a patchy overgrown piece near the road.}

Stand at a trailhead and ask the children what they see. Talk about the beautiful things they notice. Ask if anyone notices any obstacles. Discuss how nature, like life, sometimes places obstacles or challenges in our way. At times, these challenges are easy to recognize and overcome.

Ask the children to make their way down the path a bit - perhaps 10 paces, looking carefully for anything that may trip them up.

Call everyone to a halt and ask if anyone had any trouble along the path.

Then, take out blindfolds and ask how our walk might be if we put them on. Ask for a volunteer to put a blindfold on and to make it 10 paces back down the path we just came.

Note changes in how the volunteer progressed - perhaps more cautiously, more slowly, with hands out, etc.

Ask if the volunteer would feel comfortable going on a more difficult trail, or even off-trail with the blindfold on.

Chat about how, sometimes, in life, we face challenges and obstacles that can trip us up, sometimes, those challenges are not always easy to see on our own.

Explain that now it is time for everyone to try a Blind Listening Nature Walk challenge.

To do so, everyone should pair up and decide who will be the guide and who will be the walker.

Each guide then helps the walker put on a blindfold. The guide, then, holds one end of a short length of rope or bandanna and places the other end in the walker's hand, before the guide leads the walker around and about.

The guide should:

make sure the walker is safe at all times.
walk slowly and turn gently.
let the walker know when to start and stop by tugging twice on the rope.
find a path that seems interesting from an auditory perspective.

The walker should:

keep eyes covered/closed—no peeking!

keep the rope taut (so as not to crash into the guide!)

allow self to be pulled along.

start/stop when two tugs are felt.

Throughout the activity, neither the guide nor the walker should speak as talking spoils the “pure listening” aspect of the experience.

After a short period, have the guide and walker stop and have the walker take of the blindfold.

Debrief the nature experience with questions such as:

How did you feel during the walk?

Were you nervous or uncomfortable?

What types of sounds do you remember besides your partners voice?

Did anything surprise you?

How did the experience of not seeing affect the way you listened along the trail?

What other sensory information did you notice?

Do you think you could retrace your steps without the blindfold using auditory and sensory cues you recall?

Remind children that listening is a key skill in life... and in prayer.

Then, the guide and walker should switch places.

Connecting the Experience to Pentecost

After the walk, debrief the experience related to Pentecost.

Read or retell the story of Pentecost from the Bible, a Bible stories book, or memory. Discuss how the apostles were gathered and, perhaps, felt confused, afraid, alone, or somewhat "in the dark" after the experiences of the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension - how Jesus had left them, returned, then left them again.

Then, the Holy Spirit came.

The Holy Spirit is still with us - here to guide us.

We never need walk alone in life. If we are open to the Holy Spirit and listen, the Spirit will guide us!