My Senses: Day Four

Smell and Taste

Read a book about senses, such as: My Five Senses by Aliki.

Today we are going to talk about our last 2 senses, the sense of smell and the sense of taste.

Hold a fresh flower and ask children: What would you use to smell this flower? (My nose.)

Smell Song

(Skip to my Lou)
Smell, smell, what do you smell?
Smell, smell, what do you smell?
Smell, smell, what do you smell?
Oh, what do you smell with your nose? (let children answer)

Hold out a lollipop and ask: What would you use to taste this candy? (My tongue.)

Taste Song
(Skip to my Lou)
Taste, taste, what do you taste?
Taste, taste, what do you taste?
Taste, taste, what do you taste?
Oh, what do you taste with your tongue? (Let children answer)

Smelling Scents
Place samples of easily-identifiable scents--vinegar, cocoa, lemon, toothpaste, baby powder, coffee, etc. into different cups. Cover with foil and poke holes in the top with toothpicks.


Let children smell each cup and try to guess what it is. Talk about what each item is used for.



Alternative:

Smelly Jars

Put holes in small jars. Fill the jars with cotton balls and smelly substances (cinnamon, baby powder, garlic, vinegar, coffee, lemon, Kool-Aid, Hot cocoa, etc). Let the children guess what the smells are. Additionally you can ask them what the material is used for.

Scratch and Sniff Watercolor Paintings

Materials:

• Paper
• Kool-Aid

Directions:

• Mix Kool-Aid with water (about two tablespoons). Then let the children paint with the mixture. After the painting dry you have great scratch and sniff pictures.
• Warning: Kool-Aid can stain clothes, tables, and floors

Explain to children that the senses of smell and taste often go together. If something smells good to eat, it usually has a similar taste. To demonstrate this point:

Tasty Plates

Bring two foods that look similar but taste very different (orange and lemon, sugar and salt, yogurt and sour cream, etc.) Put them in plates next to each other. Let your children use their 5 senses to try to determine which is which. (Hint: do the items smell similar to how they taste?) Ask the children to describe how the substances smell, feel, look, sound (as you gently shake the plate) and finally taste.

And...

Taste Test:
Bring in items that taste salty, sour, sweet, and bitter and let your children taste and discuss them. Then, have children taste the items while plugging their noses. Is the taste of the items different without the use of smell? Is the taste as strong? How does it change?

Tasting Time:

Stone Soup:
Read Stone Soup--Marcia Brown. If you have more than one child, you could ask them each to bring their favorite vegetable to class today. Like the soldiers in the book, you could put together whatever you have to make the soup.
Here is an example recipe:
1 stone, big enough that it won't get lost in the soup (quartz is a good choice because it won't break down in cooking)
1 tbsp. butter or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped fine
1 large carrot, cut into coins
3 medium red-skinned potatoes (unpeeled, and cut into halves)
1/2 sweet red pepper, chopped
1 large garlic clove, pressed
6 cups chicken broth (or a combination of broth and water)
1 medium zucchini, diced large
1 medium yellow squash, diced large
1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
2 cups cooked tubettini or ditalini, or other soup pasta (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese
Croutons

1. The first step is for your child to scrub and wash the stone thoroughly. Then, for an extra cleaning, she can drop it in a pot of water to boil while you prepare the rest of the soup together.

2. In another large pot, melt the butter or heat the oil, then sauté the onion on medium-high for 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in the celery, carrot, potatoes and red pepper, sautéeing for 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, then add in the broth. Using a spoon, fish the stone out of the other pot, add it to the soup and bring to a boil. Add the zucchini, squash, corn and pasta, cooking another 8 minutes or until the zucchini is the desired softness. Season to taste with the salt and pepper.

3. While the soup is cooking, have your child use his/her sense of smell to describe what the soup smells like and to guess what it will taste like.

4. Before serving, sprinkle on the cheese and croutons, then ladle--minus the stone--into individual bowls. Serves 6 to 8.


Bake cookies. Talk to children about how you can smell the cookies when they are baking and about how good they will taste when they are done. After they have cooled, taste the cookies!

Five Senses Gingerbread Art

Materials:

• Sandpaper
• Crayons
• Cinnamon Sticks

Directions:

• Cut out gingerbread men sandpaper and give them to your children. Allow them to decorate their Gingerbread man with crayons, and cinnamon sticks. The children will be able to smell and taste the cinnamon, feel the sandpaper, hear the scratching (of cinnamon and sandpaper), and finally see their gingerbread people