The Children's Sensorium

The Children’s Sensorium is an interactive exhibition featuring light, colour, touch, sound, smell and taste to activate children’s  curiosity, connect them to local Country, and introduce strategies and techniques that support emotional resilience and wellbeing. The exhibition is designed for children aged 4-11 and includes sense-based installations that draw on touch, sound, vision, smell and taste to create an environment that is fun, engaging and activates children’s curiosity while connecting them to strategies and techniques that support resilience and wellbeing. It will include a variety of materials for play, and will be a space in which children can spend time to explore their senses, feelings, thoughts, worries and hopes.

This project responds to the significant impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s wellbeing and resilience. The exhibition aims to improve mental health and wellbeing for young children (ages 4-11) experiencing distress, building on evidence of preventative strategies to support children’s resilience and wellbeing (eg mindfulness/embodiment, play and emotional intelligence). The Sensorium provides practical strategies for children and their families to bring into their daily lives in order to increase mental health literacy and children’s emotional intelligence. Using a strengthbased approach (shifting focus away from pathology), the Sensorium enables  children to explore their senses, feelings, thoughts, worries and hopes and to cultivate emotional intelligence and resilience.