The five senses are a very interesting thing to talk to your students about. After all they do use them everyday in their lives. Here are some great activities to incorporate into your lesson plans all about the five senses.
A great game to play is the sense of touch game. For this game get a few boxes and cut holes just big enough to fit a hand inside. Next get different types of food to fill the box. Some examples of the foods you could use are spaghetti, mashed potatoes, whipped cream, and there are so many others. Then once you have placed your food in the different boxes cover the holes by taping a piece of material over the hole so that it can still be flipped over to reveal the hole. Then have each of your student’s stick their hands in the box and write down what they think is in each box. The student that has the most correct guesses after everyone has finished wins the game!
Another great game is called listen for the touch. This game deals with two senses, the sense of hearing and of touch. Have all your students stand in a circle. Pick one person to stand in the middle of the circle wearing a blindfold. Next pick one person without saying that persons name to try and touch the person in the middle. However the person in the middle must listen and if he or she hears a noise he or she must point in that direction. If he or she points to the person trying to touch him or her then that person is out and the person in the middle wins. However if that person touches the middle person then that person wins and becomes the person in the middle.
Another great game is called what is on the tray. This uses the sense of sight. Before class fill a tray with a bunch of items. Over thirty items is a good amount to put on the tray. These things can be anything that you have laying around your classroom. Then place a blanket over the tray until you are ready to play this game. Have your students all sit in a circle. Give them each a piece of paper and a pencil to write with. Then stand in the middle of the circle with the tray. Uncover the tray for one minute letting your students look at it. Then cover the tray back up. Have your students write down as many things as they saw on the tray. When everyone is done writing have them count up how many things they got. The person with the most items written down wins! However you want to make sure that everything they have written down really was on the tray.
By incorporating these activities into your lesson plans your students will have a lot of fun. They will learn a lot about their five senses while using their five senses to play games and do fun activities. So the next time you have a day on the five senses or a unit on the five senses try out some of these great activities.
