Where the Wild Things Are:
Blindfold walk in the zoo

We used this blindfold walk in the Central Park Wildlife Center. It is an excellent way of introducing children to the five senses. Feel free to adapt it for walks in and around your school or stage your classroom to test childrens abilities to perceive, describe and write about their surroundings.

Pair up with a partner for this activity. Together, you'll visit the Penguin House ("Edge of the Ice Pack" on the map) and the Tropic Zone building. In one building, one of you will be the sighted guide and scribe for your partner, who is blindfolded, and then you'll switch so that the scribe/guide in one building is blindfolded in the other. Take at least 15 minutes but not more than half an hour per person.

If you're the scribe, help your partner walk through the space and lead him/her in a way that you think will enhance the trip, but don't talk about the exhibit. Below are questions for you to ask your sightless partner and space to note what your partner says. Some of the questions may be hard to answer or may elicit a mental picture for an answer instead of words -- your partner can draw visual images once the blindfold comes off.

This activity is an obvious exercise in trust and cooperation between people. It makes us vulnerable so that we depend on each other in a new way. In terms of the design process, there are many reasons for an exercise like this in the early stages. It forces us to become aware of many perceptions that are always active but not usually as conscious as vision. Design choices affect these perceptions one way or another. A building or space can look great but "feel" wrong, or lack other kinds of perceptual stimulation.

As a final note, pertinent to our study of the zoo, is that becoming more aware of our "other" perceptions reminds us that we're animals, too, who need to feel physically and mentally comfortable wherever we are.

Next: Here is a Blindfold Walk Fill-in Sheet


Information for this lesson was compiled for the AIE Summer Institute for Teachers. The course teachers were Marcy Abhau & Linda Lipson. AIE Director at the time was Pamela Carunchio.