The Five Senses

This week we are going to do some fun exercises to learn about our senses. You can do each sense individually and make it a weeklong project, or you can do them all at once and move on to something new.

Talk about our five senses. Ask the children to name them if they can. You may have to prompt, but when you get them started they usually catch on and name all of them eventually.

First we will talk about sight. What organ do we use to see things with? Talk about things that we see. We can see things that are very close and we can see stars that are billions of miles away. We can see things that are very big and things that are very small. There are even things so small that we can’t see them at all. We also need light to be able to see things. Talk about the different colors eyes can be. Have them look at each other and discover what color their eyes are.

Hearing is the next sense we will talk about. Ask what organ we use to hear. Talk about things that we hear. We can hear loud and soft sounds. We can hear high and low sounds. There are also things that we can’t hear. Have them use their voices to make different types of sounds. When something vibrates it makes a sound. Everything we hear is a vibration moving across airwaves. You can show them this with a music triangle. When you strike the triangle you can feel it vibrate as well as hear the sound it makes. They can also feel their own vocal chords vibrate as they talk by putting their hands on their chest.

The next sense is smell. Again ask what organ we use to smell. Talk about things we can smell. Some are pleasant and some are not so pleasant. Some things we can smell are food, fire (smoke), flowers, perfumes, animals, trees, and cleaning solutions. Animals use their sense of smell to find food, to sense danger, and to find their way home or to find a lost baby. Some people even think that human babies learn the smell of their mother and feel comforted by it. Have them smell different things and describe the scent. Ask them whether or not they like the smell.

Next we will talk about touch. Ask them what organ we use to touch something. Hands and fingers are all right answers but the actual organ is our skin. The nerves underneath our skin tell us how something feels. This is how we sense pain so that we know when something is dangerous, if something is too hot or too cold, or sharp. We can also feel things that are nice to touch, like something soft or warm. We can feel if something is rough or smooth. Put several familiar items into a paper bag or a box. Things like a rock, a button, a piece of felt, and some sand paper. Let the kids reach into the bag one at a time and hold one item in their hand without pulling it out of the bag or looking at it. Have them guess just by touch what they have. Then take it out to see if they were right. Then have them describe how it felt and why they guessed what they did.

Finally we will talk about taste. The four main categories of taste are sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Ask what organ we use to taste. What do we taste? What things taste good and what things don’t? Can you tell what you are eating without seeing it? Have a sample of something from each category to taste. Cookies are sweet, potato chips or saltines are salty, a lemon is sour, tea or unsweetened chocolate is bitter. Have them taste each and have them describe the taste and ask if they like it or not. Then have them plug their nose and try to taste something. It is hard to taste something if you can’t smell it.

Our senses are very important to us. We use them for a variety of different things for a variety of different reasons. They keep us safe and they allow us pleasure.