Crafts

1. Sensory Texture Painting

Materials: Tempera paint in a variety of colors, sand, coffee grounds, spices, crumbled natural items, Epson salt, baking soda, liquid starch, salt, corn meal, etc.

Description: Offer painting experiences with paint to which one of the above 

ingredients has been added. Encourage children to use words to describe what 

they see, feel, and smell.

2. Texture Book

A variety of different materials such as felt, tissue paper, cotton balls, sand paper ect. Glue the different materials to different pages.  Attach each page together to make a book.

3.  Shakers

You will need two paper plates, rice and a stapler.  Have the children decorate their plates with anything they like.  Add some rice and staple the two plates together. 

4.  Rain Makers

You will need a paper towel roll, construction paper, rice and tape.  Have the children decorate their paper towel roll.  Fold strips of construction paper like a slinky.  Make about five.  Cover one end of the paper towel roll with construction paper.  Add the slinky papers and the rice in the tube and then seal the top with construction paper. 

5. Five Senses Art

Pre-cut a gingerbread man shape from rough sandpaper. Draw on facial features and buttons using marker (or allow older children to do their own). Children glue this onto construction paper of their choice. Then they "color" their gingerbread man with a cinnamon stick. They can taste the cinnamon if they wish before coloring with it. They can smell the cinnamon, and hear the way it scratches on the sandpaper. They can see the difference in color when they rub the cinnamon stick on the sandpaper, and they can feel the difference between the smooth construction paper and the rough sandpaper. All five senses are covered in this little project, and it is a great discussion starter. (Bonus: it makes your room smell heavenly!)

6. Community collage

Using cupboard liner/mac-tac, cut off a length of a few feet. Tape this piece, sticky side facing out onto a wall in your center. Then, provide the children with feathers, cut out shapes, scraps of yarn, etc. and let them stick them on for a mural made by them :)

7. Smelly Flowers

We took cupcake liners and glued them on construction paper. Then we glued several cotton balls into the middle of the liners. We drew green stems and let each child sprinkle their cotton balls with perfume. The kids loved it! Not only did their flowers look pretty, but they really smelled good too!

8. Mr/Mrs Potato Head

Cut out a shape of a Mr. / Mrs. Potato Head. Attach a pompom that has been dipped in cinnamon for the nose.  For the mouth, add mini choc chips. Add ears out of sand paper. Add leather feeling fabric for hands/feet. For the eyes you can use wiggly eyes or foam eyes.

9. Scratch and Sniff Art

All you do is mix glue with Kool-aid packets. Have the children use paint brushes and paint onto white paper plates. The projects are not only colorful, but they smell great.

10. Binoculars Craft

2 pieces construction paper

2 empty toilet paper rolls

Tape the construction paper onto each toilet paper rolls.  Tape at the ends of each toilet paper roll so they stay connected.  Decorate.  Look through your binoculars inside or outside.

 

Activities

1. What is this Smell?

Vinegar

Lemon

Vanilla extract

Soya Sauce

Perfume

2. "Mirror, Mirror"

Look in a mirror and ask the children what they see.  Explain to them about seeing their reflection.  Gather other things that they may be able to see their reflection in.

3. What Does That Feel Like?

Gather a variety of different items such as a rock, sand paper, cloth, and something squishy.  Have the children feel each item and ask them how each one feels. (Hard, soft, smooth, squishy)

4. What’s that Sound?

Make a variety of sounds on a tape.  Play the tape to the children and ask them what they hear?

5. Taste Testing

Have the children try a food from each of our four different taste buds. (sour, sweet, bitter and salty)

6. Our 5 Senses

Identifying our five senses and give an example of each.

7.  What Sense is This?

Show the children different pictures of items and have them guess what sense it would be? (Teddy Bear-Touch, Flower-Smell, Apple-Taste, Bell-Hear, Mirror-See)

8. Feeling Bag

Place various objects in different lunch sized paper bags.  For example, orange, apple, lemon, shoe, coin, facial tissue paper, etc.  Have the child feel what it is and tell you what they think it is.

9.  Brown Bear, Brown Bear what Do you See?

A felt activity naming different animals and colors.  Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?  I see a red bird looking at me.  The activity continues until all animals have been named.  At the end it says Happy Face, Happy Face what do you see?  I see all the happy children looking at me.

 

 

10.  What Sense am I using?

Do different actions and ask the children what senses your using. For example pretending to eat something- taste, rubbing a child’s head-touch, smelling a flower-smell, shaking a musical instrument-sound, looking in a mirror-sight.  Have the children copy your action afterwards.

 

Songs

1. Senses

Well, I see with my EYES!

And I hear with my EARS!

And I smell with my NOSE!

And I taste with my TONGUE!

And I touch with my FINGERS!

Thank you for all of my senses!

2.  Sensory Song

I use my eyes to see, I use my eyes to see, and when I want to see a star, I use my eyes to see.

I use my nose to smell, I use my nose to smell, And when I want to smell a flower, I use my nose to smell.

I use my tongue to taste, I use my tongue to taste, And when I want to taste a peach, I use my tongue to taste.

I use my ears to hear, I use my ears to hear, And when I want to hear a bird, I use my ears to hear.

I use my hands to touch, I use my hands to touch, And when I want to touch a cat, I use my hands to touch.

3. Five Little Senses

Five little senses are what I need,

To use when things are near.

I use my eyes to look and see.

I use my ears to hear.

I use my nose to smell things.

I use my hands to touch.

I use my mouth to taste

The things I love to eat so much.

Five little senses standing in a row,

To see, hear, smell, touch and taste

The things I need to know.

4. 5 Senses Poem

We use five senses every day

To help us learn and play.

See, hear, smell, touch, taste

See, hear, smell, touch, taste

See, hear, smell, touch, taste

We use these every day.

5. Sing a Song of Senses

(sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")

We use our tongues to taste.

We use our tongues to taste.

We taste the flavors in our food.

We use our tongues to taste.

We use our ears to hear.

We use our ears to hear.

We hear noises loud and soft.

We use our ears to hear.

We use our eyes to see.

We use our eyes to see.

We see colors all around.

We use our eyes to see.

We use our noses to smell.

We use our noses to smell.

We smell flowers and perfume.

We use our noses to smell.

We use our hands to touch.

We use our hands to touch.

We touch things both smooth and rough.

We use our hands to touch.

 

 

Books

1. Hear and Say!

Colorful and clearly drawn pictures combined with simple text provide the perfect introduction to an awareness of sound. Looking at illustrations of familiar objects and listening to the rhymes, small children will soon find that learning can be fun.

2. This Little Baby

Babies love to look at other babies- so they’ll adore this beautiful little book with its surprise mirror ending!

3.  It Looked Like Spilt Milk

Sometimes it looked liked a rabbit, birthday cake or a tree.  It looked like so many things and such different things too. Sometimes it looked liked spilt milk but it wasn’t.   This is a question that will keep children engaged in guessing and curious, through the pages of It looked liked spilt milk until the very end, when they learn it wasn’t spilt milk but… what was it.  It was a cloud.

4.  Forest Friends’ Five Senses

Hawk can’t SEE and bumps into the side of a mountain.  He visits Owl who gives him some glasses to SEE.  Rabbit can’t HEAR and gets lost in the woods.  Owl cleans all the wax from his ears so he can HEAR again.  Bear can’t TASTE after a bee stung his tongue.  Owl put some medicine on his tongue so he could TASTE again.  Skunk can’t SMELL when he gets a cold.   Owl gave him some syrup for his cold and then he could SMELL again. Squirrel can’t TOUCH after he gets splinters in his paws.  Owl used tweezers to remove all the splinters.  Since then he learned to TOUCH the trees carefully before climbing them.  And now it’s late, it’s time to let our senses rest.  Good Night!

5. Look

A little boy is sick and needs to stay in bed all day. There’s nothing to do except stare out the window.   He sees many different things throughout the day such as airplane in the sky, a cat running away, a little bird flying away.  He sees many things.  His friends stop by and bring him a ball from the juggler because they thought he may be bored.  He’s not bored though because he sees many things through his window.

6. Les Cinq Sens

Do you know your 5 senses?  Find out in this book how you arrive to touch, smell, see, hear and taste all kinds of things that you share each day with your family and friends.

7. I See, You Saw

A bee, the sea, and what you can do to a can are some things two friends see, or saw as they seesaw on a sunny afternoon.

8. The Nose Book

Everybody grows a nose.  I see a nose on every face. Some are long, short. A nose is useful for smelling. Just imagine yourself without a nose. You couldn’t smell flowers or food and how would your glasses stay on your face. And that’s why everybody grows some kind of a nose.

9. The Ear Book

Ears, ears, ears! We like our ears. It’s very good to hear with ears.  You can hear many different things such as birds, a clock, a bird singing, the rain, a train and many more things.

Ears, ears, ears! We like our ears. It’s very good to hear with ears. 

10. Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See?

Brown bear, brown bear what do you see?  I see a red bird looking at me.  The book continues with various animals until the end.  Teacher, teacher what do you see. ? I see the children looking at me.  Children, children what do you see.  The children then name all the animals that they saw.

 

General Activities

1. Try making a rainbow of color! I take uncooked rice and divide it up into different bowls. I then add one package of Kool-Aid and enough water so that the rice soaks up the color. I then place it on cookie sheets and warm it in the oven to help it dry faster. I then leave it out until it is hard and not sticky (usually overnight, depends on how much water you use.) When I pour it into the sensory bin I make rows side by side of all the different colors, like a rainbow. The kids love the bright colors and the great smell. We add scoops and pails etc. so they can mix it and pour it. The more you play with it the more the smell comes out!!

2. Goop- see activities on main page of website

3. Flubber- see activities on main page of website

4. Scented Play-dough- see activities on main page of website

5. Rainbow Stew- see activities on main page of website

6.  Have different centers out for each sense- touch-variety of materials for them to feel, sight- binoculars, sunglasses, magnifying glasses, mirrors, taste-pretend food, hearing- musical instruments, smell- smelly jars

7. Instead of water play, try using rice, beans, pasta, cotton balls, wool and shredded paper with different utensils to play with such as sifts, spoons, baking dishes, bowls, hiding items for the children to find.