What Are Our Senses?

Transcription

1 What Are Our Senses? Discuss each of the senses, which part of our bodies are associated with those senses, and how each of them help us make our way through the world. Sight Our eyes help us see the world around us. We can see our friends and family, the colours of the trees, cars, buildings and water, and the words and pictures in books. Close your eyes, what can you see now? Taste Our tongues help us taste things. We can taste many different flavours such as sweet, spicy, sour or bitter. We should only place things we wish to eat into our mouths! Stick your tongue out of your mouth and look at your parent s / sibling s / friend s tongue! Touch Our skin helps us to feel the things around us. We can feel the cold air outside, the fuzziness of our pyjamas, the tingly toothpaste on our gums, the smoothness of the window. Touch the carpet with your hand, it feels very soft! Smell Our noses help us smell things. We can smell the sweetness of flowers and our lunch cooking. If you squeeze your nose shut, you won t be able to smell very well. That is why it is difficult to smell when you have a cold as your nose is blocked up! Hearing Our ears help us hear the sounds around us. We can hear the wind blowing through the trees and traffic on the road. Be completely quiet for a moment. What can you hear? Cover your ears with your hands. Can you still hear? We have each of these senses to help us understand our world. Use each of your senses when you are learning new things!

2 What can you taste? A variety of food items that include a wide variety of tastes such as tomato juice, lemons, pretzels, marshmallows, raisins, unsweetened chocolate, olives, yoghurt and sour apples. Let the children sample the foods and describe how they taste Record the words they use to describe what they taste You can also blindfold the children and see if they can guess what the foods are What was the best thing they just tasted? What didn t they like? Why? What is their favourite taste? Why? Did they like playing the game? Please do not leave children unsupervised with this activity, as it requires adult. Thank you to St Michael s

3 Things I See A selection of magazines / brochures / leaflets Pictures (or print outs) of your house / family / garden etc A selection of different coloured cellophane sheets Crayons Paper Ask the children to make a collage of things that they see in their day. Alternatively, ask them about their favourite holiday / place they ve visited etc and ask them to create a collage of the things they saw there This can be a group activity or completed individually Once the collage is complete, ask them these questions: What is their favourite thing they can see in their collage? What colours can they see in their collage? Do they know what colour eyes they have? To extend the activity: Ask them can they see a and pick an object from the collage You can also play I Spy using their collages as a focus for the game Now for my favourite bit! Ask the children to look at their collage through different coloured cellophane sheets how does it change what they are seeing? Please do not leave children unsupervised with this activity, as it requires adult. Thank you to St Michael s

4 Scented Paint 5 postcard-sized pieces of card 5 different coloured paints 5 different scented oils or Kool-Aid sachets What can they smell? Do they like the smell? Why do they like / dislike the smell? What does the smell make them think of? What is their favourite smell? Why? Put each colour paint into a separate pot Add a different scented oil or Kool-Aid sachet to each pot Stir each pot very well Write one colour and its smell on the back of each card Paint each card with the corresponding colour and scent Let them dry Once dry, give the cards to the children and ask them to rub or scratch the card before smelling it. (Do not let them try to taste the cards!) Tip - when choosing scented oils or Kool-Aid sachets, go for strong smells, like peppermint or citrus. Please do not leave children unsupervised with this activity, as it requires adult. Thank you to St Michael s

5 Things To Feel This is a simple activity that takes hardly any time to set up. Take a cloth or canvas bag, and fill with a variety of things that you can find around the setting a toy car, spoon, an apple, a pebble, pine cones etc. Include items that offer tactile experiences such as satin and velvet ribbons, a feather, glass or smooth stones, small jars, small pom-poms or a shoe brush. Ask a child to close their eyes, put their hand inside the bag, grab an object and guess what it is without looking. Ask them these questions: What is the favourite thing they felt in the bag? Why? Did they find it easy or hard to identify the objects just by touch? What items would be good to use in the game next time? The children should be familiar with the items and be able to name each without much difficulty. I m here to lend a helping hand! Please do not leave children unsupervised with this activity, as it requires adult. Thank you to St Michael s

6 What s in the Egg? 6-8 plastic Easter eggs 6-8 different items that will make a noise like dried pasta, dry rice, cloves, shells, gravel etc Superglue Sellotape Marker pen Put one item in each egg Superglue the eggs closed and seal with Sellotape to stop small hands opening them! Write on the eggs what is inside Ask the children to shake each egg, can they identify what is in the egg just by listening? If the children need a clue, ask them to hold the egg up to the light can they see the outline of the egg s contents to help them? What do they think is in each egg? What does the noise remind them of? What is their favourite noise? Why? The smallest bone in the body is the stirrup bone, one of three bones that make up the middle ear. It measures only 2mm! Please do not leave children unsupervised with this activity, as it requires adult. Thank you to St Michael s

7 Herbs and Spices Senses Hearing Touch Smell Sight Taste 6-8 organza bags 6-8 different dried herbs and spices 6-8 small pieces of card Can they guess what is in each bag? Which bag smells the best? Why? Which bag feels the best? Why? Which bag looks the best? Why? Which bags didn t they like the smell of? Which senses did they use in this game? Did they like playing the game? Put one type of herb or spice in bag Number each bag and write a list so you know what is in each one Tie the ribbon tightly and trim the excess ribbon so the bags can t be undone Hand them to your children Ask them to smell, feel (through the bag), look, shake and listen to what is in each bag. All senses can be used except for taste! Taste isn t in this activity. Bah! Please do not leave children unsupervised with this activity, as it requires adult. Thank you to St Michael s