Tree talk
Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. ―Herman Hesse
👥 Serves: 11-25 people, 2-10 people
🎚 Difficulty: Hard
⏳ Total time: 31-60 minutes
🥣 Ingredients: An outdoor place with lots of trees, blindfolds for half the group, 1 adult facilitator
🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Bioempathy, Liberatory Learning, Positive Emotion
💪 Wholebeing Skills: Awe, Bioinspiration, Gratitude, Inquiry, Nature kinship, Nature sensitivity, Self-directed learning
Tree talk
📝 Description
A deep listening activity to help young people connect with Nature.
The following recipe has been adapted from the “Life skills through creative arts” toolkit, kindly shared with us by Dream a Dream. This activity is suitable for young people between the ages of 15 and 16 years old and requires an adult facilitator to guide the group through the experience. By the end of the activity, young people should be able to:
- Learn new ways of connecting with Nature.
- Use their imagination and sensitivity to empathise with elements in Nature.
Check out more wellbeing recipes for children and young people adapted from Dream a Dream’s kits: Balance the ball, Colourful confusions, Draw it in your own style, Portraiture, and Solo balloon volleyball.
👣 Steps
Step 1 – Warm-up (20’)
Trees have a language that they speak. Through their shape, you can see their stories. And if you listen attentively, you will be able to hear them speak softly. Divide your participants into pairs and ask them to choose who is Partner A and Partner B.
- Partner A is blindfolded. Partner B will spin them around (very slowly) three times, and then take them on a route towards a specific tree.
- Partner B will place Partner A’s hand gently on the tree, so Partner A can touch the tree and listen to it for 30 seconds.
- Partner B guides Partner A back to where they came from. Partner A takes off the blindfold.
- Partner A listens with their heart to find their tree.
- Partners swap roles and repeat.
Step 2 – Tree talk (20’)
Invite each participant to return to their tree and put their ear against it. If they have the same tree as someone else, ask them to find a different one.
- Ask everyone to listen for five minutes.
- Give them a signal that five minutes have passed and invite them to introduce themselves to the tree for another five minutes.
- Then invite them to ask a question to the tree and listen to their answer for five minutes.
- After five minutes, ask them to thank the tree and return to the circle.
Step 3 – Reflection (20’)
Open a reflection circle and invite each young person to share what they heard. Then, open a space for further discussion:
- What does this mean? What does it tell us about our communities?
- What will change in your life after this experience?