While I walked my dogs this morning as the sun was rising, I passed by a grass yard that had just been watered. Grass is not very common in my neighborhood in Arizona, but it’s a welcome pop of color amid the flat, bland colored stone that’s styled after desert landscape (or, as many people call them, rock yards). As we passed by, the smell of grass briefly filled my nose and I was instantly flooded with memories of my childhood, specifically of when my family lived in Kansas for a couple of years. There, every yard was grass. My brothers and I would play with our friends, often running across several backyards to each other’s houses.
As the walk, and trip down memory lane, ended, I remembered an article about the connection between smell and memory. Smell is a powerful sense and often triggers emotions in us. Some scents relax us, some excite, and others overwhelm. Have you ever walked into your grandma’s kitchen and smelled her chocolate chip cookies still warm from the oven, and no matter how long it has been, every time you smell her cookies you get ‘that feeling’?
What smells from childhood do you have positive connections with, play dough, pine needles, mud, wood from your tree house? Scents that occur naturally are a wise and easy choice for play experiences. There is no need to feel pressure to make things ‘smell nice’. There is nothing wrong with adding Kool-Aid to homemade play dough for color and smell, but why not start simple? For example, by starting with plain play dough, children can use their senses to explore texture, weight, size, cause and effect, sound, and of course, smell. By adding a scent on a later occasion you give them a whole new experience to process, which extends learning and helps children build on what they already know. What smells are your children making memories with?
I think I’ll revisit memory lane again tomorrow morning. It’s just a smell away.
What great memories! This evening after arriving home from work (after a very long week!) I noticed there was a smell throughout the house. It was hard to describe, but it reminded me of my childhood days when it was early summer and it was getting warm. There wasn’t the slight chill of the spring air, but rather the comfy warmth which let us know that summer was, indeed, around the corner. In my house was a mix of that outdoor smell I remember and the coolness of the air conditioning. Again, I know it may sound strange, but it took me back to a time of innocence and playfulness. It immediately calmed my soul, relaxed me, and led my mind to a most pleasant place!
It doesn’t sound strange at all, and seems like you had your own ‘aroma therapy’ experience. How nice to have those moments. Thanks so much for sharing!
Sound is powerful for me. My most favorite sound in the world is the sound of the wind blowing through evergreens. The smell that accompanies is also one of my favorites.
The sound that takes me back is the buzzing of bugs at dusk. Thanks for sharing.
Freshly washed bed linens that have dried outside on the clothesline. Makes for a delightful night’s sleep.
These are all totally yummy! But I’m with Jeff! Here’s why–
My husband said an interesting thing about this just a few days ago. We spent a long weekend on the beach, sleeping with the windows open so I could hear the waves all night.
He didn’t say anything about that, but on the drive home, he said, “This is going to sound weird, but I think after a while, I would get sick of hearing ocean waves all day every day. Seriously, if we lived on that beach, I think I’d be yelling out, “Hey, can we turn down the sound for a while????”
And I thought about that, and he’s right. I grew up in the Midwest, and I would far rather hear birds and insects…so I’m with Jeff. There’s NOTHING better than the sound–and smell–of the wind in pine trees. That’s much more to my smell and sound (and taste)!