Grade K Houghton Mifflin Reading

Our Five Senses Box

Science/Oral Language

Children will use their senses to identify “mystery” objects.

What You Need

  • Large box with lid or hole cut in it
  • Butcher paper or construction paper
  • Glue or tape
  • Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
  • Objects to touch, taste, smell, hear, see, such as sandpaper, apple chunk, rose petal, bell, toy giraffe

What To Do

  1. Decorate the Five Senses Box by covering it with paper and drawing a nose, an ear, an eye, a hand, and a mouth on it, one object on each side and one on the bottom.
  2. Turn the appropriate side of the box to face children as they sit in a circle, and tell children which sense they're going to use. Have a volunteer come up and close his or her eyes. Then hold the mystery object in front of the child or place it in the child's hand. Ask the child to use the chosen sense to identify the mystery object. Encourage children to respond with a full sentence, such as “I see a giraffe” or “I feel sandpaper.”