Using the Five Senses

In your child's science class, we've been studying the five senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste). You can help your child understand how we use each of the senses.

What You Need

• a kerchief
• a variety of objects that can be explored with the five senses (such as an orange, a flower, a soft article of clothing, or yarn)

What You Do

Place the kerchief over your child's eyes as a blindfold. Set an object in front of your child. Encourage your child to use his/her senses (as appropriate) to figure out what the object is. When your child has made a guess, remove the blindfold and have your child use his/her eyes to check the prediction. You can repeat the activity with additional objects.

What Happened?

Talk with your child about how he/she used his/her nose, hands, ears, mouth, and eyes to discover what each object was. Help your child understand that by using all of our senses, we can find out about the world around us.