Trust Walk

Trust Walk

Being blindfolded and relying on another person heightens your awareness of your surroundings.

Objective: to become aware more aware of your surroundings by relying on senses other than sight, experiencing a symbiotic relationship with another.

Background:	An old-wives tale says that if you lose one sense, your other senses increase. Although this is not necessarily true, you do learn how to rely more on your other senses. This activity not only helps heighten other senses, it helps instill a sense of trust in others.
Skills:	Enough maturity to be responsible for another person
Age:	Grades 5 – adult
Materials:	Scarf or light weight material for a blindfold
Preparation	Discuss how some creatures in nature rely on others for food or shelter. (This is a good way to introduce symbiotic relationships. Ostriches and gazelles feed near each other, watch for predators, and warn each other. The flea feeds on the mouse’s blood, which could kill the mouse. Silver fish line and hunt with army ants. Both share the prey but do not help nor hinder each other.) Then discuss how some animals have some stronger senses and other weaker senses. This often helps them to find food or escape from predators.
Activity:	Pair the children, with one child being blindfolded and the other acting as the guide. In complete silence, the guide should lead the blindfolded person through an outdoor area. The guide should stop periodically and direct (silently) the blindfolded person to touch an object or smell or listen. After a set period of time, usually five to ten minutes, the participants change roles.
Discussion:	First discuss the feelings that the participants had when they were blindfolded. Were they afraid? How long did it take for them to "trust" their guide? Then, discuss what they felt, heard, or smelled. Were they able to recognize anything? Did they feel that they could hear or smell better because they could not see? Ask how each felt as the guide. How did they feel about being responsible for another person? How easy/hard was it to create an interesting experience for the person who was blindfolded. Conclude by drawing an analogy between their experience and how animals survive. What are some of our responsibilities as stewards of this planet? Should this be our responsibility?

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