This is the makings of a sensory story.  Using the things you see I told the story of the Prophet Yusuf (some may know it as the story of Joseph) in a 20 minute Religious Education session.  In each session I offered a simple narrative, stopping periodically to share these items through touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste and hopefully enhance the participants experience of the story.  Let me talk you around the table.

1. Spices (green bowl) – at the beginning of the session I placed the story and set the scene by playing some Arabic music and encouraging the participants to smell some Arabian spices to get a sense of a Middle Eastern market.

2. Wool (pink bowl) – Yacub and his sons are shepherds.  I was keen for the participants to have the opportunity to touch sheep’s wool.

3. Stretchy sheet and plastic flashing balls – Yusuf has a dream in which the sun, the moon and eleven stars all bowed down to him.  I got some stretchy sparkly material (the sky) and encouraged the participants to gently bounce the flashing balls (the sun, moon and stars) on the cloth.

4. Water pistol – Yusuf’s brothers throw home into a well – it was enough of an excuse to spray the participants with water!

5. Cloth – the brothers then return home with Yusuf’s bloodied shirt and tell their father his favourite son is dead.  In reality this is an old towel with red paint on it.  It looks and feels pretty disgusting and got some great reactions from the participants.

6. Chunky chain – In time Yusuf is thrown into prison.  The chunky chain is heavy, cold and makes a great noise when you rattle it.

7. Grape juice – in prison the cupholder dreams of giving Pharoah wine. As this session was in a school we offered the participants grape juice.

8. Bread – in prison the baker dreams that birds steal bread from his basket.  These loaves had a  wonderful aroma and contrasting textures.

9. Cow mask – Pharoah dreams of 7 fats cows being eaten by 7 thin ones.  This mask has a sound effect embedded in the nose.

10. Split peas (yellow bowl) – Yusuf’s brothers come to Egypt to ask for food.  The participants could run their fingers through the split peas (grain).

I hoped that this range of objects offered a real range of sensory experiences.  Touch and sight are the easiest to fulfill with taste and smell in my opinion the hardest.  I’m a little bit nervous about allergies and if I was leading the session alone the logistics of offering a taste of grape juice would bring the story to a grinding halt.

Sensory storytelling is perhaps my biggest challenge.  They require a completely different discipline to my regular repertoire.  I am definitely on learning curve and although I’m becoming more confident sadly I get very few opportunities to lead these sessions.  This is a shame because the inclusive and accessible nature of sensory storytelling would mean they could work with anybody.  I devised this story with a mixed group of young people in mind; some with visual impairment, some with hearing loss, some with physical and learning needs and I was really encouraged by the way they responded to the sessions.  I hope that they begin to appear more regularly in my schedule in museums, libraries and primary schools.