Guide Dogs, a British charity, is using ‘scent kits’ to amplify events for children with vision disabilities, reported Fragrantica.
This year, the charity, which provides services and advice to people with vision disabilities, released a scent kit to accompany the beloved classic children’s picture book, The Gruffalo, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The story follows a mouse and its journey through the woods, avoiding predators with its cunning rhetoric, even outwitting the feared “Gruffalo” monster.
Guide Dogs said, “Ever wondered what the Gruffalo smells like? The olfactory kits feature five “scented inhalers” that release different aromas corresponding to five of the book’s characters: the “quick-witted mouse” smells like cupcakes; the “silly old fox” smells like freshly cut grass; the owl smells like a freshly poured cup of tea; the “sneaky slithering snake” smells like fire smoke; and the infamous Gruffalo smells like “a stinky leathery barnyard … that permeates from the depths of the deep, dark wood.”
The kits are aimed at children with vision disabilities, allowing them to engage with the story in a different way. But one can see why the kit would be enjoyed by sighted children as well – using olfactory stimuli to aid imagination.
The charity handed out 150 kits to families that use their services, as told to Fragrantica.
If you are interested in receiving a scent kit, please call Guide Dogs Line at +44 800 781 1444.
The principle of using aromas as portals for storing, improving and accessing memories shouldn’t be limited to children. In a related concept, olfactory artist Sissel Tolaas’s “Smell Memory Kit” contains vials of abstract scents. When a person has just experienced an emotionally powerful event that they wish to remember, that person takes out the kit and smells a vial, locking in the memory to this smell. The Smell Memory Kit is available via Supersense.
