Why We Teach With All Five Senses
There’s a phrase we often use at Outsiders: “See it. Taste it. Smell it. Touch it. Experience it.” It’s not just a tagline—it’s the heartbeat of how we teach. Step into any one of our outdoor classrooms, and you won’t find desks lined in rows or worksheets stacked in piles. Instead, you’ll hear the crunch of boots on pine needles, the laughter of children as they stir herbs into homemade salves, the rustling of journals opened under open skies, and the quiet awe of discovery.
We believe that education should wake up the whole child. Not just their intellect, but their body, heart, and imagination too. That’s why we’ve built an entire philosophy of learning around multi-sensory experiences. Because the deepest learning doesn’t just happen in the mind—it happens through the body.
What Is Multi-Sensory Education?
Multi-sensory education is a method of teaching that engages more than one sense at a time. Rather than relying solely on auditory or visual input, it incorporates movement, touch, smell, taste, and sound—often all at once. It’s about anchoring knowledge not just in memory but in lived experience.
If a child is learning about the properties of water, we don’t start with a diagram. We start by wading into the stream. We feel the current against our legs. We build a dam from sticks and observe what changes. We collect samples and filter them. Then we talk. Then we write. Then we draw.
This method isn’t new. It’s ancient. Indigenous traditions, apprenticeship models, and early childhood learning have long honored the role of the senses in forming understanding. Somewhere along the way, modern education narrowed that field. But at Outsiders, we’ve chosen to widen it again.
Why It Works
Multi-sensory learning works because it reflects how the brain naturally learns. According to neuroscience research, when children engage multiple senses during a learning activity, more pathways are formed in the brain, making retention stronger and understanding deeper.
When children touch the bark of a tree, smell the crushed leaves, listen to a story about its symbolism in native cultures, and sketch its patterns in their nature journal—they’re not just memorizing facts. They’re building a layered, meaningful connection to the subject. It becomes part of them.
Sensory learning also accommodates different learning styles. Some students thrive with movement. Others need visuals. Some grasp concepts by hearing, while others need to manipulate materials with their hands. Multi-sensory education doesn’t ask children to conform to one method—it meets them where they are.
It’s also particularly powerful for neurodivergent learners. Children with ADHD, dyslexia, or sensory processing differences often respond best to active, physical, or tactile learning. At Outsiders, we don’t see these learners as “exceptions.” We believe they are reminders of what all children need more of—movement, connection, and creative freedom.
Learning Through the Body Changes the Heart
There’s another reason we hold fast to this philosophy—and it’s not just cognitive. It’s deeply relational. Multi-sensory learning connects children not just to content, but to each other, to nature, and to their place in the world.
Take one of our recent animal science lessons. Instead of reading about livestock anatomy, students met our goats and chickens. They brushed their coats, learned their names, checked their hooves, and even helped prepare food. Then, we talked about what it means to be stewards of living things. One boy looked up from his notebook and whispered, “I didn’t know I could care this much about a chicken.”
You don’t forget those moments. You don’t forget what you feel.
Education rooted in the senses becomes education rooted in empathy—because it teaches children not just to learn but to notice. To notice the texture of the world around them, the weight of responsibility, the beauty of the natural world, and the importance of small details. And noticing leads to caring. And caring leads to action.
A Place Where Learning Comes Alive
Every week at Outsiders, we see the fruit of this approach. Students who once struggled to focus indoors now thrive outdoors. They build Viking longships from cardboard and sail them across shallow creeks. They construct early pioneer shelters, cook over fire, and make butter by hand. They journal in the quiet of redwood groves and debate ideas under oak canopies. They are learning—and more than that, they are becoming.
They’re becoming curious, capable, compassionate humans who aren’t just preparing for tests—but for life.
Because here’s the truth: the world outside the classroom doesn’t operate in isolated subjects or rigid schedules. It’s full of texture and chaos, of wind and wonder. Real life demands adaptability, creativity, and resilience. Multi-sensory education prepares children for that world—by placing them right in the middle of it.
More Than a Method—It’s a Mission
At Outsiders, multi-sensory education isn’t just a teaching strategy. It’s a sacred calling. We know we are shaping more than students—we’re shaping future leaders, creators, mothers, fathers, and citizens. That means our work must be deeply rooted and deeply human.
We want our students to know that knowledge is not just something to be stored—but something to be lived, felt, and passed on. We want them to remember the taste of warm bread they helped bake in a Dutch oven, the smell of sagebrush after rain, the sound of laughter echoing through a canyon. These are not just experiences. They are anchors.
So if you’ve ever wondered why your child comes home from Outsiders with dirt under their fingernails, ink on their hands, or wild stories about dissecting owl pellets or finding edible flowers—it’s because they’re not just learning aboutthe world. They’re living in it.
And in a time when education often feels more disconnected than ever, we believe that’s not just important—it’s essential.
Come Learn With Us
If you’re new to Outsiders Adventure Co. or just discovering our approach, we invite you to come see it for yourself. Whether it’s through a forest school day, a multi-sensory science lesson, or a summer camp under the stars—this is a place where education is real, rooted, and unforgettable.
See it. Taste it. Smell it. Touch it. Experience it.
Because the best kind of learning is the kind that lingers—long after the lesson ends.
