A senses field trip could be as easy as taking a walk and talking about using all of your senses.
You can pretty much cater your senses field trip to anywhere you want to go:
Take a picnic to the park and play.
Go to a grocery store and visit all the different departments. Taste samples.
Take a hike in the mountains.
Go to the beach.
No matter where you go, just remember to discuss how you are using all of your five senses to enjoy the world around you! Be aware of how each sense helps you to take in your surroundings.
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
Read a book on senses such as: My Five Senses by Aliki.
Today we are going to talk about the sense of touch.
Have a few items with different textures, such as: fuzzy material, feathers, sandpaper, foil, cotton, bowl of ice water/bowl of warm water. Ask children: If I told you to touch these items, what would you use? (Hands/fingers.) Let children feel each item and talk about what they feel like.
Feel Song
(Skip to My Lou)
Feel, feel, what do you feel? Feel, feel, what do you feel? Feel, feel, what do you feel? Oh, what do you feel with your fingers? (let children answer)
Let children read a few touch and feel type books to practice using their sense of touch.
Feely Painting
Materials:
Paper
Shaving Cream
food coloring
Sand
Directions:
Let your children paint with hands using a mixture of shaving cream, food coloring, and sand. The Children will love the feel of this mixture.
When child is finished mixing, make a print of the art on plain, white paper. Let dry.
You can also let your children paint with just plain shaving cream or chocolate pudding
Feel that Slime
Let your children experience the sense of feel with slime! It is simple to make simply add glue with cornstarch and stir well. You may have to add a bit of one of the ingredient to get the right consistency (to sticky add more cornstarch) but the children will love it. To keep it from getting to sticky store it in the refrigerator.
Alternatively you can make less sticky slime with cornstarch and water (add more cornstarch if its too thin, more water if its too thick)
Touch and Feel Book Make a texture book with lots of different items for your children to touch and feel. You can include aluminum, denim, springs, feathers, carpet, grass, and much more. Have them describe the items.
Today, we are going to talk about the sense of hearing.
How do we hear? (with our ears.)
Read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear? and talk about the noises heard in the book. Have children imitate the animal sounds with you.
Play a sounds tape of different sounds that children are familiar with (planes, trains, cars, bells, animals, etc.) Have children guess what sounds they hear.
Make your own Sound Walk Tape
Take a walk with the children around the school, outside, or anywhere with a variety of sounds. Bring either a tape recorder or a notepad and record the sounds that you hear. When you get back to the classroom have the children mimic the sounds that they heard.
Tell children that you use your ears to listen to directions. Have them stand up and do the "Hand Jive," listening to your directions. Or, sing "Do As I'm Doing," and have the children take turns being the leader and telling everyone what action to do.
Play a listening game: Find a quiet spot. Sit down with a notebook and something to write/draw with. Listen carefully for sounds and record what you hear.
Hear Song (Skip to my Lou)
Hear, Hear what do you hear? Hear, Hear, what do you hear? Hear, Hear, what do you hear? What do you hear with your ears? (let children answer)
Go outside and play musical chalk art. Let children listen to several different types of music while they draw with the chalk on the sidewalk. (This could also be done inside on paper.)
Make a model ear drum: You need a balloon, scissors, plastic cup, rubber band, rice grains 1. Cut the end off the balloon and along one side so you can open up the balloon and lay it flat. 2. Cut the flat balloon in half so you have a circle. 3. Stretch the balloon over the cup. Attach it using the rubber band, keeping the balloon stretched as tightly as possible. 4. Sprinkle some rice grains on top of the balloon. Clap your hands or shout and watch the grains jump as the balloon vibrates.
Make your own musical instruments: See here for 9 different musical instruments you can make and listen to the sounds they create.
Today we are going to talk about the sense of sight. You see with your eyes.
Read The Eye Book--Dr. Seuss. Our eyes see so many things. We should be very grateful that we can see the beautiful world around us. Some people cannot see, which can be challenging.
To let children experience a little bit of what it might be like to not be able to see, play "Blind Man's Bluff." (Blindfold child and see if they can find you just by listening to your voice.)
*Kyle hated being blindfolded, by the way. I guess it's glad he was blessed with the sense of sight. (He did like ME being blinded, though. Maybe he wanted to get into some trouble while my eyes were closed.)
There are SO many things in this world to see. Read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" Talk about how our eyes help us to see things in the world around us.
Play "Do You See What I See" with the children by describing things in the room and asking if they can see what you see. Ex: I see something red and round. Do you see what I see? If someone guesses correctly, they get to be "it." If not, keep giving clues about the object until it's guessed correctly.
See Song (Lou, Lou, Skip to my Lou)
See, see, what do you see? See, see, what do you see? See, see, what do you see? What do you see with your eyes? (Let children answer)
Art:
Have children color a picture of eyes to match their own.
Things I See
Materials:
Magazines
Pictures of your class and the outdoors
Paint
Paper
Directions:
Let your children make a collage of things that they see in their day
Let them See
Make binoculars or telescopes out of toilet paper and paper towel rolls .
Make glasses out of pipe cleaners.
Make an Eye Chart with different sized letters. Have children play eye doctor and read the letters. See if they can read them from different distances.
Have children spy/match same color materials on to matching construction paper
Activities:
Go on a walk and talk about all the things the children see. When you get back, write or draw pictures of everything you saw on your walk.
Let children investigate "I Spy" books or "Where's Waldo." Ask what they see or have them point out objects on the pages.
I Spy Bottle: Use an empty water bottle (or large soda bottle for a bigger scale) and place several small objects such as: buttons, coins, keys, pins, beads, paper clips, etc. inside. Fill the rest of the bottle with rice or sand. Let children shake the bottle and roll it around to find all the hidden treasures. Ask them what they are able to see.
