Five Senses - Preschool Activities

The five senses are exciting to learn about because we use them every day. Here are two activities per sense to help you introduce your child to their five awesome senses.

Sight

Flashcards are a great way for your preschooler to utilize their sight. You can make your own flashcards using cardstock paper, markers and crayons. Draw pictures of animals, objects and general people (ex: a dog, a table and a mailman or baby). Hold up each card and ask your child to name the animal, object or person.

Another way to play with our sight sense is the popular "I Spy" series books. Your preschooler will love helping you hunt for the listed items within the books' pages. A well known verbal variation of this game can be altered to better suit pre-school players. You can have your preschooler pick an object and describe it to you based on its exterior (ex: a ball that is red, circular and sparkly).

Sound

Our ability to hear allows us to enjoy music, communicate with one another, and stay safe.

"Name that Sound" is an exciting way to introduce different sounds to preschoolers so that they can learn to identify them. Purchase or create a CD of sounds and play it for your pre-school audience. Rain, horns honking, ocean waves and animal sounds are extremely stimulating. Ask the children to name the sounds they hear as they hear them.

Playing with instruments is another fun activity for preschoolers. They'll delight in hearing the sound each one makes. You may then ask them "What kind of instrument is this and what sound does it make?"

Smell

Playing with scents of all kinds is a fun way to stimulate the sense of smell.

Offer a variety of foods to smell and identify - eyes closed! Or experiment with scents through scratch and sniff books.

You can even make your own scented playdough by baking dough at home and adding different extracts, like peppermint and vanilla. Your child will love helping you make the dough and will delight in the smell of it (be careful of children who may try to eat it!).

Touch

Young children love touching things. How many times have you caught yourself asking your child not to touch something? These fun activities invite your preschooler to touch for play.

Arrange bowls containing items of different textures on a table. Some suggestions are cooked noodles, water, sand paper and cotton balls. Allow your child to feel inside each bowl. Ask them what they are touching and how it feels.

Texture board books are another great opportunity for preschoolers to play around with touching. Make a trip to your local library or bookstore and pick out texture books to read and feel together.

Taste

What better way is there to incorporate learning than through eating?

Prepare small plates of food containing taste bud stimulators. Bitter, sweet, sour and salty are the tongue's major senses. Some great food ideas are lemon wedges, potato chips and assorted candies. Ask what each tastes like as your child tries them.

You can also have your child try different beverages at different temperatures, like cold and warm milk.

Continue to point out when your child is using their senses and they will become more aware of them!