THE FIVE SENSES ACTIVITIES

As an early afternoon lesson we learned about the Five Senses in the neighborhood. My daughter saw something on PBS kids about using your sense of smell in identifying things and has been asking if we could try something similar. So naturally I made it more educational and included all 5 senses. The activity took a few hours with three kids. We had to adjust some of the activity to be COVID friendly. Each family had their own food for the taste and smell activities.

First, we completed the below worksheet. You will need scissors and glue stick/glue. For the younger kids we had to tell them the words at the bottom and asked them what they use to do that word.

Example: Smell, “What do you use to smell?” (nose). Then we explored each sense closer. See below activities.

Smell

Second, we focused on smell. Have your child cut out the food cards or you can cut out. There are blank cards in case you want to do different foods or additional ones.

I used small plastic containers and covered with tin foil. Then, I labeled with numbers(1-8) and punched small holes through the tin foil. Silicone cupcake liners, dixie cups, or small containers would all work great for this.

As your child smells, have them choose which smell card fits with the smell in the container (see example at left). They might change their minds as they go on.

Once all of the scents are labeled, it’s time to reveal whats inside. Have your child remove the tin foil one by one. How many scents were guessed right? wrong?

Taste

Third, we focused on Taste. Using the containers with food in them from the Scent activity, complete the Taste activity.

Have your child taste test each food and determine if they fit into one of the flavors on the worksheet. Or maybe they don’t fit into any? What else do they taste like? Spicy? Tangy?

Have them then place the food/container inside the box they taste like on the worksheet.

Touch

Fourth activity, we focused on touch. Find an assortment of materials and place into a bowl. Then, have your child explore the materials- describing how they feel. Have them determine what materials feel like the words listed on each finger. How did they decide? What did they use to figure out the texture? (hand)

Examples: bark, cotton balls, pom poms, rocks, packing peanuts, beans (anything you have around the house). The more options you provide, the more challenging.

Review: Texture– the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance.

Sight

Fifth activity, we explored sight. Complete the activities below. We used a bandana & elastic cloth headband for our blindfolds.

Sound

Lastly, we explored sound. Have your child sit quietly and listen carefully outside. Have them circle what they hear on the worksheet.

All 5 senses have been reviewed! What was your child’s favorite? All three of the kids who did these activities with me, had different favorites. Hope your child/children have fun learning while completing these activities!

• Please see Terms & Conditions in the About page. To copy, simply drag into a word document or onto your desktop. You may also click the buttons above each page to open in new window & print.
• To save paper for multiple children, print 2 per page (except for the flavor page).