Our five senses tot school unit was full of exploration and learning. We had so much fun learning about our sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch that big sister Madelynn even joined us for a lot of our activities.
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Here were our plans for 5 Senses Week:
And here are the details of each activity:
Here are the books that we used to begin each day:
Hearing by Rebecca Rissman
Smelling by Rebecca Rissman
Seeing by Rebecca Rissman
Touching by Rebecca Rissman
Tasting by Rebecca Rissman
Listen and Color Animals:
For our first fine motor activity we worked on coloring to fill a shape. I printed a listen and color page then played this adorable Guess the Animal Sound video I found on YouTube. Aubrey followed along and colored each animal as their sound was made.
Scented Shapes:
This activity was perfect for learning about smells! I filled small cups with different colors of powdered Jell-O. I named a shape and Aubrey used clear glue to fill it in (more advanced kiddos could also try tracing the shape outline with glue.) Then she sprinkled Jell-O power on the glue and watched as it changed colors and smelled amazing! I helped her shake off the excess powder and she repeated the process to complete each shape.
Blindfolded Building:
Next Aubrey used her sense of touch to build a structure with blocks. She put on a blindfold and tried using Duplos to build tall towers and buildings. After she was done she removed her blindfold to see how the structure turned out.
Texture Collage:
For this open ended art activity I gathered craft materials in various textures (ex. ribbons, beads, gems, paper scraps, feathers, yarn, pom poms, sand paper, etc.) Aubrey glued materials to a large piece of cardboard to create a tactile collage. We talked about how the different materials felt as she chose where to attach each one.
Edible Tracing:
Our last fine motor activity for the week focused on our sense of taste. I printed a tracing page with various line styles. Aubrey used cereal pieces to trace the different lines then ate each one after she finished!
Listening Walk:
For our first gross motor activity we went on a listening walk. I printed a checklist page and we listened for the sounds pictured on the page. Then we colored each box as we heard the sound.
Sniff and Match Relay:
To learn about our sense of smell, I made scent bottles for a little relay match. I first soaked 5 cotton balls in cherry, vanilla, lemon, coconut, and mint extracts, and put each one in an empty sprinkle container. Then I also poured cinnamon, cocoa powder, and coffee in 3 more containers. (I chose to cover each bottle with paper so the color wouldn’t give away the scent.) Then I placed pictures of each scent at one end of the room and the containers at the other end. To play, the girls had to choose one container, smell the contents then run it to the correct picture.
Blindfolded Walk:
This activity was a fun one for my girls to do together. I had them each put a blindfold on to move without using their sense of sight. They walked slowly and listened to my directions for where to go. Then we switched roles and they practiced giving directions to me.
Guess the Shape:
Did you ever write words on your friends backs as a kid? I remember doing that with my friends all the time! This was inspired by that activity and was a nice shape review as well. I gave each of the girls a set of shape cards. Madelynn chose one card and used her finger to draw that shape on Aubrey’s back. She tried to guess the shape using the extra shape cards to point to as a reference. Then they traded roles and repeated with each shape.
Catch the Popcorn:
For our last gross motor activity we kept it simple with a fun and yummy game of catch the popcorn. Pop a bowl of popcorn. Take turns tossing popcorn in the air and trying to catch it in your mouth. Easy Peasy!
* You may substitute puff corn or another snack if you feel more comfortable with your little ones eating that vs. popcorn*
Five Senses Snacks:
Oreo Eyeballs: Split 2 Oreos in half. Push an M&M in the center of each one. Peel and cut small pieces of pull and peel licorice. Press licorice into the cream.
Marshmallow Mouths: Cut apples into slices. Spread one apple slice with peanut butter. Stick marshmallows into peanut butter. Spread another apple with peanut butter. Stick apple on top of the marshmallows.
Loud and Quiet Snack Sort:
Cut up snacks and place in small cupcake cups. Try each snack and listen to see if the snack sounds loud or quiet. Sort the snacks on the sorting sheet
Sniff and Guess Snacks:
Cut up snacks and put in small cups. Cover each cup with a paper towel and rubber band it to the top. Poke holes with a fork in each one. Smell each cup and try to guess what snack is inside, then open to find out.
Guess the Snacks:
Fill an empty wipe container with snacks. Reach into the container and choose a snack. Try to guess the snack by only using your sense of touch.
Match the Sound Bottles:
For a little sound science investigation, we played a match the sound guessing game. I filled 10 small bottles with 5 different items (pom poms, buttons, straws, jingle bells, beans, etc.) so that each bottle had a match. Then I covered the bottles with paper so that the contents were not visible and numbered them 1-10. Aubrey had to shake to find the bottles that sounded the same. When she thought she found a match, I helped her write the numbers, and guess what was inside. Then she opened them to find out and drew it on the response page.
Cocoa Cupcake Cloud Dough:
In this bin: flour, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, bowls, cups, silicone cupcake cups
To make this yummy chocolate scented cloud dough, fill a sensory bin with 6 cups flour, 1 cup cocoa powder, and 1 cup vegetable oil. Mix together until you reach a crumbly texture that holds its shape when packed together.
Colorful Treasure Hunt:
In this bin: black beans, colored gems, colored pom poms, and colored cups
Guess the Object:
For a little touch science investigation, we played a guess the object guessing game. I filled our sensory bin with 6 different objects. With a blindfold on, Aubrey reached into the bin to touch and feel a mystery item. She guessed what the item was and drew it. Then she took the item out to find out if she was correct and drew it again.
Jell-O Sensory Bin:
In this bin: Jell-O or Jell-O jigglers in ROYGBIV colors, cups, scoops, and fine motor tools
I chose to make regular Jell-O for a more squishy messy experience. After each color was set, I cut them into small squares and placed them in a sensory bin in rainbow order. Aubrey used all 5 senses to explore the bin and we discussed how each sense is being used which a fun way to wrap up our 5 senses theme.
Want all of this week’s Five Senses activities for preschool? You can grab them here:
On my site : Five Senses Plans & Printables On TpT: Five Senses Plans & Printables
Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Tot School Bundle On TpT here: Tot School Bundle
Then check out the rest of our 35+ themes on the Tot School Curriculum Main Page.
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