Our five senses

Ages 6 to 8 Read together, then try alone · about 20 minutes

Read together

We have five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

Our senses send messages to the brain.

Do it

1. Put safe objects in a bag: a sponge, a spoon, a cloth, a pinecone. Feel and guess without looking.
2. Smell a lemon peel, vanilla and cinnamon, with your eyes closed.
3. Listen quietly for one minute and list every sound.
4. Which sense did you use most today?

Talk about it

• Which sense helped most?
• What did you smell?

For the grown-up

The senses help us learn and stay safe. Do not use sharp, hot or very small objects, and check for allergies before smell and taste games. Some people lack a sense, and that is not a failing.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• NGSS Lead States, Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States (National Academies Press, 2013), performance expectation 1-LS1-1 (using structures for survival and senses)
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, pages on how the senses of hearing, taste and smell work

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.