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Try these 6 simple and fun art activities for kids to explore the senses and learn about synesthesia with a fun video! These activities are great for both a classroom setting and at home and can be done with children of any age. With these activities, you will be able to explore the senses and learn about something called synesthesia. All you will need is some paper, something to draw and color with, and a few things you can find around your home!
Combining Senses in Art – Synesthesia
Learn about something called Synesthesia with these 6 art activities to explore the senses! Synesthesia is the experience of combining one or more senses, it is something many artists use when creating their artwork. For these art activities, we will learn about using our senses and then turning them into artwork.
What is Synesthesia?
Synesthesia, or synaesthesia, is a condition where the brain mixes up the senses.
–Kiddle Kpedia
Experiencing SYnesthesia
When you hear a song, taste food, or hear a name, have you ever compared it to a color, shape, or texture? You may be experiencing something called synesthesia!
Synesthesia is the connection of one sense to another. A great example of synesthesia I have seen is in the movie Ratatouille when Remy the rat was trying the cheese and different colors and shapes appeared along with some music in his head. Then Remy tried a strawberry and it was different colors, shapes, and music. Then Remy tried both and got a mixture of colors, shapes, and music. The video below shows this clip!
Explore Your Senses and Make Art
You can try all 6 activities, or choose just a few. Altogether it would take about 2 hours to do all 6 activities, and one activity should be between 10 and 30 minutes. You can choose just a few activities or split them up at first, then combine all of them into a small gallery to show your friends! There will also be a short video clip from the movie Ratatouille at the end of this article. This is an amazing example of what it might feel like to experience synesthesia, to make these activities even more fun you can watch the full movie before starting.
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Materials Needed for ARt Activities
- Paper
- Crayons, Colored Pencils, Markers, etc.
- A speaker or headphones
- A snack or treat of your choice
- Something you can smell (Coffee grounds, soap, cut grass, candles, etc.)
6 Art Activities That Explore the Senses
1 & 2. Sight: Colorful names and Shapes
Many people associate certain letters with certain colors. For this activity, the kids will write their alphabet and choose the color they feel the letter fits. An R might be red, an E might be green, and an O could be black. Then ask them to write their name, or the name of their favorite person or character and decorate it using the colors they chose from their alphabet. Then, they can decorate the space around their name.
Alternatively, for younger kids, you can draw 5 or more shapes and ask them to color each shape for the color they feel a shape should be. They can also make patterns for the shapes if they want to.
3. Hearing: Music art
One of the more common forms of synesthesia people experience is “seeing music”. Often when people hear music, they can “see” colors and shapes. To try this, choose a song that has no words, it can be cheerful, scary, dramatic, sad, or any other emotion you would like to try and draw. Listen to the song once with your eyes closed. Then listen to it one more time, but as you listen to it draw what you hear. You can use a pattern or path to help, or if you want to you can draw all over the paper with no specific direction or pattern. I chose to listen to “Black Rose” by J.T. Peterson because of the variety of tones used in the music.
4. Touch: Texture Rubbing Art
If drawing what something might sound, taste, smell, or feel like is too difficult, you can try doing texture rubbings. This is an easy way to see the feeling of something. To make a rubbing, find an interesting texture such as the bark of a tree, bricks, a basket, or a bumpy sign. Place your paper on top of the texture, then with a crayon or pencil (Crayons work best!) rub the crayon over the paper. That texture will begin to appear on the paper! You can choose colors that you think represent the texture you are feeling. For example, the texture of a basket might be orange. Try using printer paper if the paper is too thick.
5. Smell: Smell drawing
In this activity find one thing around your home that has a strong smell. It can be herbs, candles, soap, flowers, and more. Close your eyes and smell it and try and visualize what shapes and colors you see when you smell it. Then try and draw what you see while you smell this object. It can be inside a circle, the whole page, or in a pattern. Is it smooth? Pokey? Bright or dark? What colors are used?
6. Taste: Combining flavors
Find two snacks or treats that can be eaten together. For example, bananas and chocolate, hummus and carrots, broccoli and ranch, or you can be adventurous and try something new or strange like apples and salt, Doritos and cottage cheese, or animal crackers and yogurt! Try one of these snacks or treats separately. Then try to draw any colors or shapes that you see on the left side of the paper. Then try the next food independently and do the same thing on the right side of the paper. Finally try combining both foods together in one bite and draw what that tastes like.
What is it like to Experience Synesthesia?
More Art and activities to Explore senses
What did you learn making art through exploring your senses?
