5 Senses Activities

Seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting

Matching Textures

At circle time, pass the fabrics around the circle and talk about how each fabric feels. Cover the shoebox with wrapping paper or tissue paper. Cover each juice lid with a different type of fabric. Cut five slits in the lid of the shoebox and place a different type of fabric above each slit. Place the shoebox and the lids on a table for children to feel the different types of fabric and put the juice lid in the slit marked with the matching type of fabric.

Make a collage of fabrics and other materials having different textures.

Read "The Listening Walk" and then go on a listening walk. Take a tape recorder and tape the sounds on the walk. After returning from the walk listen to the tape and ask the children to identify the sounds.

Are You Listening?

At circle time turn off the lights and light a candle or turn on a flashlight in the center of the room.
Read the story and talk about it with the children. Tell them that you will pass several boxes around the circle and ask them to guess what is inside. Pass the boxes one at a time and ask them to guess by listening to the noise it makes as they shake it. Allow time for all the children to guess before opening and showing the contents.

Aromatic Herbs

Show the children the herbs and talk about the fragrances. Pass each of the herbs around the circle for the children to smell the herbs before they are crushed. Each child crushes an herb on the large rock, using the small stone. After crushing the herbs place each type in a bowl for the children to smell and taste

Plant an herb garden, indoors or outside. Herbs grow easily in a sunny area.

*Make sour cream (or yogurt) and herb dip. Serve with crackers.

Making Popcorn

Talk about the five senses and tell the children that they will use their five senses-- seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting. Talk about and show the children the ingredients and the popper to make popcorn. Explain that since the popper will get very hot and that the oil may splatter, they need to sit away from the popper. Make the popcorn. While it is popping talk about and listen to what is happening. Ask the children which senses they are using during each step in the process of making and eating popcorn. After the popcorn is finished popping, place it in cups and give to the children. As the children eat the popcorn talk about the senses they are using. Compare the size of the popcorn kernels before and after popping. Taste various kinds of flavored popcorn and make a graph showing the children's most and least favorite.

Hide a music box and let the children take turns finding it by listening to the sound.

Feeling with Feet: Using a plastic swimming pool, let the children walk barefoot on different materials and textures. (Be careful so they don't slip!) Use leaves, pillows, wood chips, sand, bubble packing paper, fabrics, warm water, cold water, water with bubbles, etc.

Fill different film canisters with fragrant substances (such as vanilla, almond extract, peppermint extract, vinegar, lemon juice, ammonia, soap, evergreen needles slightly crushed, chocolate, etc) and a cotton ball to absorb the liquid. Poke holes in the lid of the canister with a nail or ice pick. Pass the canisters around and ask the children to smell it, but not to say anything until everyone has had a turn. Ask them if they recognized the smell, listen to their guesses, and identify the fragrance. You can also prepare two canisters of each fragrance and have them identify and match the fragrances to their match.

Make a five senses collage. Have children look through magazines for pictures of noses, mouths, eyes, ears, hands and feet. Cut out the pictures and paste them on construction paper.

Have the children guess what an item is just by touching it. Blindfold them, hand them an object and have them guess what it is. Ask them to describe it, hard, soft, size, shape, texture, etc.

Have one child wear a blindfold. Point to another child to say "Hi, (Johnny). I have (describe self)." The first child tries to guess which child said "Hi."

Exploring a Guitar:

Count with your Ears:

Show children some pennies and count them by lining them up. Talk with them about using their eyes to look at each penny as it is counted. Tell the children they will learn to count them with their ears. Ask them to be very quiet as you drop the pennies one at a time into a jar or can. Ask them to count the "plink!" sound as each penny drops and tell the children that is how they can count with their ears.

Tasting Game:

Put a sample of a condiment on a cracker. Blindfold the child and ask her to taste the cracker and to identify the name of the condiment.

Place several items in a pillowcase. Pass the pillowcase around the circle. Each child selects one item to feel and describe. The child guesses the name of the item and then pulls it from the pillowcase to show the other children.

Hide instruments and noisemakers so the children cannot see them. Sound an instrument and ask the children to guess what made the sound. Repeat the game by playing an environmental tape and ask the children to guess what is making the sound (car horn, train, animal sounds, baby crying, feet stomping, etc.)

Visual Game:

Tape pictures of familiar objects to a board and cover the bulletin board so children cannot see the pictures. Remove the cover to allow children to see all of the pictures. Cover the pictures again and remove one picture. Remove the cover and ask the children which one is missing.

Make a Feely Board with different textures on it: sandpaper, cotton ball, piece of fur, tile, fabrics, etc. Allow the children to explore the different textures.

Make Toilet Paper roll Binoculars.
Each child will need two rolls to paint and design. Attach the two rolls together with tape and punch two holes at the end of each to run yarn through the holes to make a necklace for the children to wear around their necks. Use the binoculars to look at specific objects inside or outside.

Ask each child to bring an object from home that makes a noise, has a distinctive aroma, or a neat texture.

Use a prism to reflect sunlight to see and talk about the different colors.

Make a tape recording of the children's voices and ask the others to identify them.

Shhh, a Soft Sound:

Think about what is quiet and makes no sound. Show pictures of a fish swimming, a butterfly,and ice cream melting. Let the children act out the pictures. Ask them to name other things that do not make a sound.

Freeze Game

Play music and have the children tiptoe around the room, and freeze in place when the music stops. Playing the music softly will help the children listen more carefully.

Listen Listen Listen:

A Piano Game:

The word "piano" comes from the Italian word "pianoforte" which means soft and loud, because the piano can make both loud and soft sounds. Let the children watch as you play notes at the top of the piano keyboard. Talk about the high sound. Now play notes at the bottom of the keyboard and talk about the low sound. Ask the children to close their eyes and tell you whether you are playing a high sound or a low sound.

Sound Experiments:

Tie a six-inch length of string from each of the two corners of a wire coat hanger. Hold the ends of the string, one in each hand. Wrap the ends around your index fingers a couple of times. Put your index fingers in your ears. With the coat hanger dangling, walk around the room, allowing the coat hanger to bump into things made of wood, metal, etc. The sounds you hear will be very loud. NOTE: For safety reasons, bend the hook of the coat hanger out of the way.