How to Introduce Kids to Their Five Senses

If your kids are curious about how the whole body and brain work hand in hand, here are some fun exercises for teaching kids about their bodies, the world around them and how they experience it through their five senses. By introducing and focusing on each of the five senses, you can show kids how the body usually uses more than one sensory organ at a time to decipher the input it is receiving. Your kids will be amazed at how the brain works with the information it recieves through each of the various senses and how much people rely on the senses individually and with them working as a whole. Here are some great ways to get the kids interested in this fundamental human science.

Instructions

1. Explain to the kids how there are five senses the brain uses to gather information about the world around them. Name all the senses. Tell them you're going to show them how important each sense is by exploring them one by one. Start with Sight. Blindfold one child and have her try to make her way slowly from one room in your house to another. If she wants, have her try and perform some simple task like fastening her seatbelt in the car or making a sandwich with the blindfold on. Your child will quickly realize how she relies on sight.

2. Use the blindfold again for the sense of Touch. Hold a variety of objects up to your child to feel without looking. See if she can identify the objects by touch alone.

3. Sound can be demonstrated by having the child close her eyes and cover one ear tightly with her hand. Move around the room and clap in various places in the room. Have the child point to where they think you are, just by listening with one ear. Try this with eyes closed and both ears open and see if the child improves her listening ability.

4. Use the blindfold again for Smell. Blindfold your child and wave a variety of foods under her nose, one by one, and see what she can guess correctly just by smelling. You can also try waving household objects that have a distinct odor and seeing if she can guess those items as well.

5. Use the same foods for a Taste test. Blindfold the child and have her guess which foods she is tasting without looking. Have her pinch her nose closed for some of the foods and watch her be surprised by how much taste and smell are connected. Some foods have no flavor with the nose closed.