For the sense of taste, I give each child something sour (lemon drop), something salty (pretzel), and something sweet (a piece of chocolate) to eat. We discuss the tastes and which they like the best. Then we discuss our tongues. Each student can be given a mirror to look into to see their tongue and the taste buds on it. We read "Jamberry" and try some different flavors of jam.
For the sense of smell, I place items in film canisters and allow each child to smell each item and guess what it is. Then we graph which smells we like and do not like. A follow up activity is to ask students to determine which items will have a smell and then walk the items around and have students smell them and determine if their guesses were correct. I use things like mustard, a comb, or a bar of soap.
For the sense of sight, we go on a walk and discuss what we see and also play "I Spy." We read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" and "Harry the Dirty Dog." The students can draw a picture of everything they can see from their location. Then switch locations and draw what they see from their new location. Color mixing is also a great activity that can be added when learning about the sense of sight. Place a bowl of cool whip at each child's location and then add a drop of food coloring. Have the student stir and determine which color is in their bowl. Then add a second drop of food coloring of a different color and have them stir again and decide which color they are making.
Magnifying lenses should be used at the Science Center when talking about the sense of sight.
For the sense of hearing, we play with musical instruments and also play a listening game. The students sit in a circle and close their eyes. I tap one of them on the shoulder. The child I tap, says
"good morning friends." Then everyone opens their eyes and takes turns guessing which friend greeted them. We read "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" and "Bark George."
For the sense of touch, I place multiple items in a bag and each student is allowed to place their hand in the bag one at a time. Once everyone has had a turn, I allow the students to first give a description of what they felt (cold, hard, prickly...). Then we go around the circle a second time and each student guesses what they believe is in the bag. Then I pull out all of the objects so they can see if they were correct. We read "Rain." If you are able to bring animals into your classroom, they would make a great addition to learning about the sense of touch.
Show and Share could also be added and students could bring something in that they can see, smell, taste, hear, or touch and then they could tell the class which sense(s) they use with their object. Or on Monday, everyone could bring something they see. Tuesday, bring something they can smell and continue with a different sense each day.
Pictures can be cut out of magazines and sorted into the senses that are used.
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