Use your senses on a rope walk

Planning this activity

• Set a trail at least 30 metres long, with objects spaced out along the course.
• Tie ropes to mark out the trail, leading to the objects. Try changing the height of the rope for variation.
• You may want to use different pieces of rope or wrap the rope around stable objects, such as trees, every so often, so it remains more stable if anyone wobbles it.
• Decide how many people can safely be on the trail at once.

Running the activity

1. Explain that everyone will have a go at exploring the rope trail with a blindfold on. They’ll be interacting with the different objects that they find. They mustn’t let go of the rope, but they can take as long as they need to fully explore.
2. Tell everyone that they need to be careful during this activity, as they won’t be able to see where they are going. Ask everyone what they could do to make sure they don’t fall over.
3. Explain that they could try something called Fox Walking. Encourage the group to think of how a fox can silently walk. When we walk, it’s a ‘controlled fall’. We commit our weight before we put our foot to the ground. Fox walking is slightly different to normal walking. Everyone should practice fox walking. Put your weight on one foot, slowly lifting the other foot off the ground and bringing the knee higher than usual with the foot hanging relaxed. Lower the foot to meet the ground naturally without placing any initial weight on it. Fox walking is often better when we are going barefoot, but we must keep our shoes on for this activity. 
4. Ask everyone how they can apply fox walking to this activity.
5. People should try to complete the activity in silence if they can, as they need to focus on their senses, so what they can hear, smell or touch.
6. The first participants should put on blindfolds and go the start of the course.
7. Set the participants going along the trail, making sure that there’s space between each of them. 
8. Once at the end of the course, participants can remove their blindfold. Keep going until everyone has had a go.
9. Gather everyone back together to talk about the experience. What did everyone feel, hear or smell along the way? You could chat about this as one large group, in small groups or in pairs. 
10. Now ask everyone do the trail again, but this time with their eyes open.
11. Again, gather back together in a group. Ask everyone if they noticed anything different this time. Could they still hear, smell or feel things? What was it like having another sense of sight? Which version did they enjoy the best?

If you’re doing this activity indoors and if possible, according to age, ability and location safety, encourage the group to try this trail barefoot. If the group does do this barefoot, use the technique known as fox walking explained above.