The preschool children often show a lot of interest in food. They enjoy talking about what they like to eat and are always curious about what is being cooked for lunch. Sometimes, while walking in the hallway, they try to guess the food just by smelling it. Seeing this curiosity, Jaspreet planned a fun activity that combined both of these interests—exploring the senses of smell and taste.
Small bowls were provided to children with different ingredients such as garlic powder, lemon juice, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and parsley flakes. Each child was blindfolded so they could focus on their other senses without using their sense of sight. First, they smelled each item and tried to guess what it could be. Then, they tasted it to check if their guesses were correct.
Sadie and Maddie began by using their sense of smell. Maddie smelled the parsley flakes and said, “This smells like mint from our playground garden in summer.” This shows how she connected a new smell to something familiar from her past experiences. Sadie smelled the garlic powder and thought it smelled like pepper. When she tasted the lemon juice and soy sauce, she noticed they were sour and tried to figure out what they could be.
Colin and Theo explored the activity together. Theo carefully smelled all the cups one by one, taking his time to notice each smell. He then tasted the lemon juice and quickly reacted, saying, “This is so sour,” showing he could identify strong flavours. Colin had two cups in front of him—one with parsley flakes and one with soy sauce. He smelled both and then tasted them. He pointed to the soy sauce and said, “This tastes like some sauce,” showing he could recognize it through taste. Noah explored in his own way. After smelling the parsley flakes, he touched them and said, “These are green leaves from trees.” He used both his sense of smell and touch to understand what he was exploring. Ahrloe tasted lemon juice, salt, and sugar. She said, “I liked sugar better because it feels good in my mouth,” showing her awareness of different tastes and preferences.
Colin and Maddie used their sense of sight (without being blindfolded) to look closely at sugar and salt and tried to tell the difference. Theo laughed and said, “They both look the same,” helping the group understand that some things may look alike but taste very different.
In this activity, children used many sensory skills. They used their sense of smell to recognize different aromas, their sense of taste to identify flavours like sweet, salty, and sour, and their sense of touch to feel textures. They also used their cognitive and memory skills to compare, guess, and connect new experiences with what they already know. This activity also helped them build curiosity, observation, and thinking skills. Overall, it supported hands-on learning and encouraged children to express their ideas and experiences.
