Five Senses

The Five Senses - Early in the school year, we study the Five Senses. I introduce the senses with a group activity with a hot air popper. The kids sit around the popper and we experience it with our ears, eyes and nose. We then eat the popcorn and experience it with touch and taste.

We also sing Jack Hartmann's Five Senses Song (see Big Book section) from his "Math in Motion" CD. Katie and Company also has a wonderful Five Senses Flannel Board activity.

I have listed some of my favorite senses books below.

After I have introduced the senses to my class we do stations on one day. There are 5 stations for the 5 senses. If I don't have parent help, I have to change them to do over 2 days.

Touch Bags - At this station, the kids have to reach in the bag and feel what item is in there. Then they mark the number on the bag by that item on the sheet. Click here for the Touch Bags PDF.

Smelling Jars - At this station, the kids have to smell items in jars and guess what the smell is. I have an old game from Discovery Toys that I use. You can also use baby food jars or film canisters with scents in them.

Sound Lotto - For this station, my students play a sound lotto matching game. I have 2 copies of the Discovery Toys "What's That Sounds Game." I need 2 because there are only 4 cards in the box. I have also linked to another sound game below. The kids listen to the sound on the tape and mark it on the card. We also listened to items in film canisters and marked what they were on their sheets.

Tasting - For the tasting station the kids have to taste pickles, pretzels, cookies and baking chocolate. It is really funny to watch their reactions when they taste the bitter chocolate. They mark on their sheets if they liked the food or not. Click here for the Tasting Sheet PDF.

Sight Station - For this station the kids have to complete a hidden picture sheet from Highlights magazine. When they are done they can play an "I Spy" card game and look at "I Spy" books. They also look at kaleidoscopes and mirrors.