I loved teaching this thematic unit on senses!  It was one of my favorites and the kids always loved it and remembered many of the activities, even years later!  🙂

[amazon_image id=”B001QCX1G6″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Senses (Kingfisher Young Knowledge)[/amazon_image]

Materials

• different colored paper strips
• brown lunch bag
• crayon
• felt square
• 2 different sounding, small musical instrument (I use a bell and musical balls)
• 2 clear water bottles (need to look exactly the same) fill one 1/2 way with water and the other 1/2 way with white vinegar
• 2 sandwich bags; 1 with 1/4 c sugar and one with 1/4 c salt

Instructions:

1. have all materials collected and assembled before hand and hiding in a box
2. play songs #17 & #18 on
3. read pages 6-9 in
4. tell the students that some things can be deceiving (or tricky) and we are going to investigate and figure out what things are
5. get out the paper strips, ask if they are same or different, ask how they know that they are different, ask them what they used to figure it out (brain & eyes; sense of sight)
6. put the crayon in the brown bag, pass the bag around and have the students “feel” what is inside without looking at it and then to pass it to the next person (you can also line the kids up and have each child put their hand in the bag as you move down the line), after everyone has felt it, talk about what it felt like (hard, soft, smooth, rough, etc), have the kids guess what it is.  Then repeat with the felt square in the bag.  Ask the children what they used to feel the objects (fingers/hand: sense of touch)
7. have the children close their eyes, play the two instruments, one at a time.  Ask if the sounds were the same or different and what they used to tell (ears: sense of hearing)
8. get out the water bottles and have the children look at them.  Tell them they are different and ask for suggestions on how they might be able to tell a difference.  After they have guessed (smell), pass the bottles around one at a time and have the students smell them.
9. get out the zip top bags and tell them that they are also different.  Ask how they can figure out how they are different.  (I usually have a suggestion to “smell” them, so I pass the bags around and have the students smell them.  Then since they don’t smell different, we discuss how else we can tell a difference).  After the discussion, I put a pinch of each in each child’s hand, and have them taste it.
10. Review the 5 senses.

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