Creativity Booster: 5 Senses

Activity

Warm up activities

Creativity Booster: 5 Senses

Diana Varma

Creativity Booster activities can be used as a fun warm up the beginning of each class. This 5 Senses activity invites students to quiet and focus their minds.

Tech needed: Video conferencing, Cameras off option

Synchronous

Accessibility: Auditory

Duration: < 5 mins

Student preparation: None

Educator preparation: None

ACTIVITY PURPOSE

Creativity Boosters are short, purposeful activities used at the start of class to energise students and spark creative thinking. They work well as ice breakers and help students shift into learning mode. These activities can support both visually creative subjects (like design or visual arts) and non-visual courses that involve creative problem solving (such as science, business, or social sciences).

There are different creativity boosters: some invite students to think visually, see ‘16 squares‘, some invite students to discover feelings of empathy, see ‘An Ode to the Left Hand‘, some invite students to get silly and quiet their inner critics, see ‘Yes! Let’s‘.

USEFUL FOR

This ‘5 Senses’ activity helps students slow down, feel more calm, and pay attention to the present moment. By using their senses—sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste—they take a break from distractions and become more aware of their surroundings. This can make them feel more focused, relaxed, and ready to learn. It’s also a gentle way to boost creativity by noticing things they don’t usually pay attention to.

PREPARATION

No preparation is required other than having the instructions to guide students through the activity (see below).

INSTRUCTIONS

This ‘5 Senses’ Creativity Booster is a mindfulness practice. There is huge value in engaging in mindfulness exercises to help spark creativity. If nothing else, it gets students out of their normal routines and it removes us all from actively using our devices.

Before this activity begins, invite students to turn their cameras off so they can feel comfortable to participate in the experience fully, without feeling watched by classmates.

In this Creativity Booster, we ask students to slow down and quiet their minds by focusing on their immediate surroundings, inviting them to focus their attention using their five senses. Begin by asking students to take a few deep breaths, staying in the here and now as best as possible. With a calm and steady pace, ask students to do the following:

Notice 5 things they can see around them, becoming more aware of the environment and trying to find things they don’t normally notice.
Notice 4 things they can feel, such as the texture of clothing on their skin or any surfaces they are touching.
Notice 3 things they can hear, including obvious noises or background noises.
Notice 2 things they can smell, whether pleasant or unpleasant.
Notice 1 thing they can taste, either by actively taking a sip of a drink or noticing the taste in their mouth.

Following the exercise, the goal is that students feel calmer and more ready to focus on the class ahead.

Adapted from: UVM Medical Center (2018) Mindful Monday: Try the ‘Five Senses’ Mindfulness Exercise, Physical, Wellness Tips and Wellness Articles.

DURATION

Approximately 5 minutes

ADAPTATIONS AND EXAMPLES

Invite students to use any of their available senses as not all students might have access to all five senses. This is about tuning into their unique experience of the world around them.
Offer optional prompts to imagine a sense they may not access in the moment. For example: “If you’re not able to smell anything right now, think of a strong smell you remember from childhood” or “If you can’t taste anything, imagine the last thing you ate and what it felt like.”
Let students know they can skip any part of the activity if it’s overwhelming or unpleasant.
Provide the instructions in writing and/or audio so students can follow at their own pace.
In large classes use a poll or word cloud to collect the class’s shared sensory observations (e.g. “What’s one thing you’re hearing right now?”).

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

No special technology is required beyond video conferencing software in a live, synchronous class. This activity works best if all students have their cameras turned off.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Talk Paper Scissors podcast, Episode 058: Serious Fun. In this podcast episode, I explain the rationale behind the importance of having ‘Serious Fun’ in post-secondary education, including the incorporation of Creativity Boosters in my virtual classroom.