“There are moments that engage a child’s sense of smell, that grounds them and puts them in a place of curiosity.”

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Tracy Taylor, Director of Consumer Insights at Firmenich spoke with Phil and Nick from Book of Beasties about the impact of scent on our wellbeing, and why it is an important part of a child’s emotional and behavioural development.

Firmenich is one of the oldest manufactures of fragrance in the world, creating scents for some of the most recognisable brands, and a leading researcher into the impact fragrance has on our lives. 

Tracy, who is based in New York, spoke of her experience working with children whist studying psychology and her transition over to consumer insights. How she thinks we could better use multi-sensory resources that focus on olfactive elements and even how we could implement fragrance into the world of the Beasties. 

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“Kids love to touch and to see, and the more we can get them to engage their sense of smell it can actually help with behaviours that are sometimes problematic. It can be really hard to tell anybody especially kids, not to do something, you always need an alternate behaviour. 

“There are moments that engage a child’s sense of smell and slow the behaviour, grounds them and puts them in apace of curiosity. ‘What can you smell what do you think it is like?’

“And as we think about scent as it relates to emotions, just helping kids be more aware of what is happening around them when they feel a thing. What do they smell and what does it feel like?”

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Watch the video below.

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