Maya chases bubbles
In the summer of 2023, I conducted MFA research at Fauna, exploring how drama-based play practices could enhance enrichment for chimpanzees. The research adapted strategies from theatre for early years (TEY), drama therapy, and expressive arts to the sanctuary context.
Often, enrichment includes a forage and food-finding component without caregiver participation. This project was not based on motivating participation through food rewards but on the chimpanzees’ self-motivation. It offered an approach to enrichment that focuses on stimulating an individual’s drive to engage and interact. Here, objects were integrated as part of a broader, relational enrichment process to facilitate new experiences through various forms of movement, sensory perception, kinesthetic exploration of materials, and creative expression in co-creation with a caregiver.
In this study caregivers spent time in structured enrichment activities with the chimpanzees. An observer made records of the behaviors that occurred, and caregivers later completed a questionnaire. Caregivers had an identical set of enrichment objects and were encouraged to focus on the chimpanzees’ curiosity and respond attentively to whatever emerged in the moment. For example, using sensory materials like gelatine, caregivers observed how the chimpanzees explored the material’s potential and how they applied it to their environment, allowing for a co-creative process to develop organically. Caregivers were instructed to adopt an open, responsive approach, grounded in the relational framework of PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, and empathy) to support interactions. This approach supported an enriched, relational experience that emphasized the importance of shared exploration and the chimpanzees’ agency in play.
Maya coloring
The project also leveraged environmental objects commonly offered as enrichment but used differently in ‘storied doing’ with caregivers. The ‘storied doing’ approach considers that individuals actively shape the shared space from which narratives develop, potentially uncovering new possibilities for insight and change. In this project, I suggest that this approach is present in all reciprocal interactions between participants, in this case, humans and chimpanzees and chimpanzees with each other, that contribute to shaping the sanctuary environment. This highlights the dynamic and cumulative nature of their shared, ongoing narrative of action-reaction-interaction. This approach considers that enrichment isn’t limited to a single activity; instead, it evolves with each interaction and response, building a foundation that may shape future interactions.
The data showed that interactions were shaped by various factors, including disruptions, caregiver involvement, the materials involved, and novelty of the activity. Caregivers noted that activities involving materials that can change properties through manipulation (such as ice cubes, gelatine) were more successful at engaging the chimpanzees than materials that were more static (such as chalk). The chimpanzees’ engagement with a diverse array of objects suggests that enrichment facilitating tactile and sensory exploration can be particularly effective in stimulating their curiosity and enhancing the enrichment potential of their environment. Since the caregivers had an identical set of materials, this created opportunities for the chimpanzees to engage in enrichment with active attention. This was most poignant for chimpanzees that were reluctant to actively engage with their own set of items.
The PACE strategy was also important for engaging more attentively with the enrichment process. For example, Activity 4, which was ice cubes, showed a clear contrast in chimpanzee engagement between the morning and afternoon sessions. In the morning, multiple interruptions diverted the caregiver’s application of the PACE approach, with Binky’s initial curiosity of the materials left unexplored when the caregiver’s attention was diverted elsewhere. However, in the afternoon session, with the caregiver’s attention and curiosity focused on Binky’s and Maya’s experiences, the enrichment potential of the activity’s objects was better realized. This approach, grounded in direct experience, highlighted the enrichment potential of the materials in a relational and interactive way.
The drama-based strategies that were important included enactment, sharing, showing, and witnessing, as well as giving participants time, choices, and a supportive environment in which to explore. The focus was on fostering a sense of discovery and providing the chimpanzees with increased opportunities to come into contact with their environment in somatic and sensory ways.
In questionnaires, caregivers acknowledged the positive impact of the strategies behind the activities in providing pathways for differential experiences for the chimpanzees including opportunities for creative expression, encouraging agency in their environment, and supporting sensory exploration. In addition to describing the importance of novel objects and experiences for the chimpanzees in sustaining engagement, caregivers also remarked that engaging with the curiosity principle helped them to approach enrichment with the chimps differently.
The research findings also indicate promising implications for caregiver mental health and suggest that the strategies used in these activities may help to mitigate symptoms of burnout, shedding light on an aspect of the study not initially anticipated. For caregivers who may not have the chance to engage in such play themselves, participating in these enrichment activities may have offered a break from routine tasks and provided a fresh perspective on enrichment possibilities within the limitations of their environment. Strategies from drama-based play practices and the use of everyday objects in creative ways may inspire new ideas and approaches to enrichment challenges.
Activities
· Sand
· Movement through story
· Ice cube painting
· Sensory story including tactile experience
· Clay dots
· Chalk
· Bubbles
· Jelly
You can watch Maya use the Jelly (gelatin).
The full thesis can be found at this URI: https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119747 . Appendix B describes the activities in detail.
Fauna would like to thank Isabel for this detailed description of her study.
If you would like to support enrichment projects like this, please consider a donation to Fauna Foundation.
