I can SMELL & TASTE!
Lessons designed for ages 2-6. This lesson will explore both the sense of smelling & tasting through fun interactive learning games and crafts. Children will also learn about “closed mouth” & kind words during learning time. Choose the activities that work best for you!
“I Can Smell & Taste” Unit: God Made Me- My 5 Senses
LESSON PURPOSE: GOD GAVE ME A NOSE TO SMELL & MOUTH TO TASTE!
MATERIALS: Learning & teaching toys: picnic play food. Items to smell & food to taste. Craft materials: see below.
SONG IDEAS: God Made Me. Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. O Be Careful. This Little Light.
BOOKS: “My Five Senses” by Aliki My Five Senses Books
AS CHILDREN ARRIVE: Sensory Play
Picnic or tea party: blanket, pretend plates, cups and play food items.
Farmer’s Market: market play with toy food, fruits, cash register, coins
Playdoh Faces: have children make faces out of playdoh: eyes, nose, mouth
SCRIPTURE:
“A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” -Proverbs 15:4
"The five senses work together for one harmonized body, so at what point does this harmony take place? Life itself is the center of all five senses." -Rev. Moon
WELCOME: SONG, PRAYER, TP Greeting
REVIEW & TRANSITION: Last week we learned that God, our Heavenly Parent, gave us our five senses! Our senses are a gift from God! We learned that our eyes can…? (See!) and our ears can…? (Hear!) That’s right! Give Me Five- We also learned that good listeners have looking eyes (make binoculars with hands) & listening ears (make large ears with hands) Sing song!
“I use my eyes to see. I use my eyes to see. Hi, Ho, Did you know? I use my eyes to see!” “I use my ears to hear. I use my ears to hear. Hi, Ho, Did you know? I use my ears to hear!”
ATTENTION GRABBER: Choose 1
Teacher Smell & Taste Test: Teacher can smell & taste a few different items that are: salty, sweet, bitter, sour- make facial expressions and describe what they taste like! (Feel free to use items here you wouldn’t necessarily have children taste such as salt, sugar, pepper…)
INTRO: Today we’ll learn about our Nose & our Mouth!
VIDEOS:
Can't Stop The Feeling- Dance Movement Video
READ ALOUD: “My Five Senses” by Aliki! (or similar book on five senses) Discuss as you read. Have children interact and point to the parts of their body. Focus on “nose-smelling” and “mouth-tasting”. Have them smell & taste along with the story using their imagination!
*TEACHING POINT 1: I Can Smell
SONG: “I use my nose to smell. I use my nose to smell. Hi, Ho, Did yo know? I use my nose to smell!” (The Farmer in the Dell)
TEACHING with DISCUSSION:
God gave us a Nose so we that we can breathe & smell! (Have everyone point to their nose, sniff the air and take a deep breath in and out!) How many noses do you have? 1! What kinds of smells do you like to smell with your nose? (flowers, baking cookies, rain…) Things can smell clean, fresh, musty, sweet,fragrant. What kinds of smells are stinky and yucky? (coffee, going potty...)
Did you know our nose can also help us to sense if there is danger? For instance, a fire in the distance. Our nose can also help us identify bad or rotten food by a bad smell. And sometimes our nose gets sick, it’s harder to smell & taste and then we blow our nose, rest and take good care of our body to get healthy again! (Optional: Sense of Smell/Nose Story- a “book walk” here just flipping through pages and talking together about the pictures).
GROUP ACTIVITY:
Children Smell Test: Pass around a few items one at a time for children to smell. This can be anything. (perfume spritz, a squirt of lotion, candle, soap, flower, piece of wood, toothpaste, vicks.) Describe the smells. Are they fragrant, sweet, minty… (Optional: Play a scented marker “Guess that Smell” game. Keep tallies on a white board of how many children like the smell or don’t like the smell.)
*TEACHING POINT 2: I Can Taste
SONG: “I use my mouth to taste! I use my mouth to taste! Hi, Ho, Did you know? I use my mouth to taste!” The Farmer in the Dell
TEACHING with DISCUSSION:
God gave us our mouth to taste! Point to your mouth! What are all the parts of your mouth? Lips, teeth, gums, tongue. How can we take good care of our mouth? (Brush our teeth, floss, eat healthy foods, use chapstick.) What do we taste with? Our tongue! Show me your tongue! What color is it? It’s wet and pinkish! Your tongue has little bumps on it called “taste buds”! (Children can look in a mirror to look at their tongue & teeth). What’s your favorite food to taste? Food can taste: bitter, sweet, sour and sweet! It can also be smooth or crunchy! It’s always great to try new foods! (Optional: Sense of Taste/Mouth Story- a “book walk” here just flipping through pages and talking together about the pictures).
God also gave us our mouth to speak & communicate! We speak through using our mouth and vocal chords! We can also sing and laugh! What kinds of words does God want us to speak? Happy, kind words! Please, Thank you, I love you, That looks so nice, Great job… words that honor God and lift up others. Nice words give friends and family “Warm fuzzies!”
GROUP ACTIVITIES: Tasting Activities- children can explore how their sense of smell & taste work together! Choose 1:
Taste Test: Have children smell & taste a variety of food samples and decide if they are sweet, salty, bitter or sour. It will be easiest if all children taste the same thing at the same time. (Some ideas: pop rocks, fruit, lemon, salted pretzels, mint…) You can keep tallies or draw pictures of which item is sweet, salty, bitty or sour!
Blindfold Taste Test: Have children take turns one at a time or with a partner tasting something blindfolded and guess what they are tasting.
Guess That Flavor Game: Have children try the same color jelly beans at the same time and guess what flavor they are! (Write tallies of whether they were yummy or yucky).
GIVE ME FIVE: We use looking eyes, listening ears & a closed mouth (zipped lips) during lesson time. We show our teacher respect by closing our mouth & listening, zipping our lips, when the teacher or someone else is speaking. When we’d like a turn to speak- we raise our hand.
CONCLUSION:
(Have children turn to a friend and share about what they learned today or their favorite part of the lesson.) God gave us our bodies- nose & mouth and our five senses to bring us joy! We can enjoy beautiful smells, taste delicious food, and use kind words to Praise God and be a good friend. VISUAL: Draw a face: have children help you fill it in- draw eyes, nose, mouth, ears. We’ve completed learning about the senses on our face! What’s missing? The body! That’s right, next week we will learn all about our hands & feet!
TITHING & PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Parent, thank you for giving us our nose to smell & breathe with and our mouth to taste, talk and laugh with! We are grateful for our fives senses. Amen. Aju!
CRAFTS! Choose 1 or more of the following options:
Tea Bag Painting: Place different types of tea bags in shallow water. Have children hold them by the tag and drag them across paper to create art & fun smells!
Make a Face: Make a creative face out of drawing, googly eyes, yarn for hair...etc.
Jack O Lantern: Make a jack o’lantern out of construction paper and glue on the different parts in different shapes: eyes, nose, mouth, ears.
Popsicle Stick Lips: Draw and cut out a mouth with teeth, lips. Then tape it on to a popsicle stick. They can hold them up to their mouth and practice talking with friends.
SNACK IDEAS:
Fruit Face- Give children a variety of cut up fruit and have them form a face before eating it!
Enjoy the lesson! Feel free to submit photos to lgavin@unification.org Love seeing lessons come to life and each community!
