The Senses Game

Sometimes I run out of activities to do with the kids. Noodle was bored yesterday afternoon and this was what I came up with (I think I might have done this at some point as a child). My activities usually have some kind of theme and today it was using ones five senses (two of them anyway, taste and smell).

TASTING GAME

 

Sprinkles, chocolate chips, almond, custard tasters

I took an ice tray and put one item to taste in each hole. We had an almond, a chocolate chip, some cake sprinkles, lemon juice, coconut oil, an ice cube, a blob of plain yoghurt and a little custard. Then I put on a blindfold for Noodle. She was allowed to feel and taste each item but not see them. 

Noodle did remarkably well, having guessed all except the lemon juice (which she said was vinegar) and the cake sprinkles, which she said was sugar (technically correct I guess). For the almond, she said it was a nut and when I asked her what kind of nut, in typical Noodle style, she said 'a very hard one'. Squish also enjoyed tasting each item. 

For older kids, you could adapt this to show them how different parts of their tongues have different taste receptors (sweet, sour etc) and also ask them to block their noses to demonstrate how ones nose also plays a part in tasting.

SNIFFING GAME

The smelling part of the game lasted significantly longer than the tasting segment. I blindfolded her again and let her smell some perfume, the coconut oil she had tasted earlier, her own shoe, her shampoo, toothpaste, some baby lotion, some spices, peanut butter, raw onion, coffee beans and some mint leaves (but any non-toxic, strong smelling substance will do). Again, she did remarkably well and only faltered on the peanut butter.

I think it will be interesting to do the other senses as well, but that is an activity for another day.