Orleans House Gallery Sensory Bag for Families
If you have found your way to this link, then you might well be holding one of our brilliant Orleans House Gallery Sensory Bags!
Open it up to explore the objects inside and use them to think differently about the things you might see, hear and experience during your visit. You can use the bag in the galleries, whilst looking around one of the exhibitions or outside in the grounds around Orleans House.
There are no right or wrong ways to use the objects, and you can use them however you wish, but here are some possible ideas to get you started…
Family Trail
You will find other activities to try on the Family Art Trail Cards also available from the front desk and can also use the objects as part of some of these activities:
- The mime: Use one of the objects as a prop for your pose!
- The Wildlife Artist: Can you add one of the objects into your design?
- The Colour Seeker: Look through the colours in the bag. How does it change the way you feel about things?
Touch
Before you take any object out of the bag, try reaching your hand in and exploring the different textures you can feel in the bag. As you take each object out, think about if it looks as you expected it to from what you first felt?
We are often not allowed to touch things in an art gallery, but can you find anything in the exhibitions that you think would feel the same as any of the objects?
Think too about what temperature things might be? What objects and things around you feel warm or cold next to your skin?
Build
Can you build and balance the different objects from the bag? Some are hard and flat so might easily balance, but other objects are softer and might be more difficult.
What sculptural forms can you create and do they remind you of anything you see on whilst you look around Orleans House Gallery?
You might have another object with you that you can add to your balancing sculpture?
Match
Look for things in the gallery that in some way match objects from the bag. They might match in colour or texture or in the way they make you feel. Or they might remind you of the same things?
Challenge everyone in your group to match to something different and share your ideas with each other.
Look
Try looking differently at things around Orleans House Gallery and grounds using the coloured see-through shapes and mirror in the bag.
How does thing change things?
Can you use the mirror and coloured plastic together in different ways?
Try using your body differently at the same time – crouch down or reach up to look at things using the mirror for example.
Talk together about how we might think about things differently if we are able to view them in new ways.
Make sure to return your bag when you have finished.
