How to Learn the Senses

What they love to eat... illustrated on gigantic tongues for dramatic effect!! :)

There are a lot of things adults take for granted. The senses is definitely one of them. We eat, touch, smell, hear and see so many things... really not recognizing how valuable they are to us.

I started this whole activity by making a gift bag, with tissue paper filled with 5 cut-outs. One hand, one tongue, one eye, one ear and one nose. Each kid took a turn picking a gift out of the bag. The idea is that all these wonderful senses are a gift from God, to protect us... to help us in this mortal journey. They not only protect us from harm, and teach us things... they can bring us great joy. So, each sense we had an activity that went along with it.

Sound: I had the kids close their eyes and listen to different things in the kitchen. I opened the fridge door, pushed buttons on the microwave, turned on the faucet etc. They had to guess what I was doing just by listening.

Sight: We mostly learned sight by all the ways its awful not to have it. The kids closed their eyes most of the time, because we truly rely on sight more than anything else. No wonder we are so slow to faith!! We talked about colors and knowing how far things are away from us.

Touch: I put a bunch of objects into bags and had the kids feel and desribe what they felt. Some pokey things, soft things, hard things, sticky things etc. They LOVED it. Then I showed them what it was. Sometimes, you can tell what things are just by feeling them... but kids are VERY slow to trust that.

Taste: This was a fun one... ofcourse kids love to taste everything... almost. They love treats anyways. I had them close their eyes and I put stuff like salty chips, squishy marshmallows etc, on their tongues and told them to describe it. Basically we talked about what "sour" means. What "spicy" means. What "bitter" means. What "sweet" means. My kids call toothpaste, soda, salsa and lemons spicy... so it was time to define things a little more. :) It worked pretty well.

Smell: Just like touch, I stuffed a bunch of smelly stuff into bags and had them guess what it was. Cleaners, deoderant, a diaper, chocolate etc. They knew chocolate boy!! :)

Anyway, it was lots of fun. You can try it any time!!