Why Teach Preschoolers about the Five Senses?
Introducing preschoolers to the concept of the five senses at an early age is not only fun but also immensely beneficial for their cognitive and sensory development. Understanding the five senses – sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound – helps children make sense of the world around them. By engaging in activities that explore these senses, toddlers can enhance their observation skills, descriptive language, problem-solving abilities, and overall sensory awareness.
A Sensory Play Activity: Exploring the Five Senses with Food-Filled Jars
Sensory play activities provide an excellent opportunity for toddlers to explore their senses and learn through hands-on experiences. In this activity, we will use small glass jars filled with different foods to represent each of the five senses. Let's delve into the jars and the corresponding senses:
1. Jar 1: Red Cherry Tomatoes - Represents Sight: Bright
Fill a small glass jar with vibrant red cherry tomatoes. Explain to your toddler that sight helps us experience bright colors like these tomatoes. Encourage them to observe the tomatoes closely, noting their round shape, bright color, and shiny appearance.
2. Jar 2: Orange Butternut Squash Uncooked - Represents Touch: Hard
Utilize another glass jar and fill it with uncooked, firm, and textured orange butternut squash. Encourage your child to touch and feel the squash, explaining that touch helps us recognize different textures, such as the hardness of the squash's outer skin.
3. Jar 3: Yellow Sliced Lemons - Represents Taste: Sour
Slice a yellow lemon and place it in a jar. Have your child safely smell and even taste the lemon, explaining that taste helps us differentiate between different flavors. Emphasize that lemons taste sour, allowing your child to experience this tangy sensation.
4. Jar 4: Green Sliced Avocado - Represents Touch: Soft
Fill a jar with sliced green avocado, known for its soft and creamy texture. Prompt your child to touch the avocado gently and tell them that touch helps us identify the difference between textures, such as the softness of the avocado's flesh.
5. Jar 5: Yellow Banana - Represents Taste: Sweet
Select a ripe yellow banana and place it in a jar. Explain to your toddler that taste also helps us appreciate sweet flavors. Encourage them to taste the banana, relishing its natural sweetness.
6. Jar 6: Brown Letter Cookies - Represents Smell: Yummy
Fill a jar with delicious-smelling brown letter cookies, providing an enjoyable aroma. Allow your child to smell the cookies, emphasizing that smell helps us identify different scents. Encourage them to describe the pleasant smell of the cookies, expanding their vocabulary.
7. Jar 7: Dark Red Cherry Tomatoes - Represents Sight: Dark
Introduce a jar containing darker red cherry tomatoes. Explain to your toddler that not all colors are bright and that darkness exists too. Encourage them to observe the dark red tomatoes and discuss the difference between bright and dark colors.
8. Jar 8: Brown Dog Treats - Represents Smell: Stinky
Place stinky brown dog treats in a jar for your child to smell. Explain that smell not only captures pleasant scents but also unpleasant ones. Encourage your child to describe the not-so-pleasant smell of the dog treats, further expanding their olfactory vocabulary.
9. Jar 9: Teal Wooden Ball - Represents Sound: Loud
Include a jar with a teal wooden ball to represent sound. Encourage your child to drop the ball inside the jar, creating a loud sound. Explain that sound allows us to hear different noises and how certain things can make louder sounds than others.
10. Jar 10: Teal Felt Balls - Represents Sound: Quiet
Introduce teal felt balls into the last jar to represent sound as well. Prompt your child to drop the balls gently into the jar, creating a quiet or soft sound. Explain that sound can also be quiet or soft, as different objects make different noise levels.
To enhance this sensory play activity further, you can pair it with five senses flashcards. These flashcards should display colorful illustrations representing each sense and include opposites cards like bright/dark, soft/hard, etc. While engaging in the activity, show your child the flashcards, let them match the foods in the jars with the corresponding sense flashcards, and describe how each food relates to its respective sense.
Conclusion
Introducing toddlers to the concept of the five senses through sensory play activities fosters their cognitive and sensory development. By engaging in hands-on experiences such as exploring various foods in