20+ Five Senses Activities to Engage your Kid

Some of the essential body parts are the eyes, mouth, nose, fingers, and ears. They are beneficial to us every day. Therefore, their development is crucial, especially in children. They are associated with the five senses of smell, sight, taste, touch, and hearing. Do you know how babies put everything in their mouths? Or how their eyes scan everything there is in the room? They do so because they want to feel and touch things around them. When children engage in sensory activities, it is a lot of fun. They enjoy, create, collaborate, and learn some things too.

1. Reading

Reading is a great way to engage your children in listening as well as cultivating vocabulary. Seeing is understanding. You can take it up a notch higher and ask them to read objects, making them understand how the words Sound. Or you can bring these objects in front of them. And then they can touch it, sniff it, and taste it in some cases (with fruits and vegetables).

2. Take them on a Listening Walk

Prepare a list of the sounds of your surroundings. You can also make a picture chart and hand it over to the children. Head out for some adventure and ask them to check things off the list, from the charts to the sounds that they hear. You can later ask them to note what they felt once they are back from the activity.

3. A Sound-matching Game

Another fun filler is listening. This is an excellent activity to develop their sense of hearing. You can use various items from your surroundings, such as pins, small bells, buttons, and marbles, and fill them in medicine boxes or even small cups. Then ask the children to shake it up and recognize what’s inside based on the Sound they hear.

4. Playground Activity

Games are a great way to introduce and develop all five senses in children. They will run around and listen to their playmates. Specific activities involve listening.

5. Taste It Activity

Mix water with flour and edible colors. Next, allow kids to taste it. This will help them in learning different colour names.

6. Sense of Smell with Essential Oils

This is a fun activity that all the kids will love. Take some cotton balls and add a few drops of essential oils to them. You can also use fragrances such as vanilla, orange, and sandalwood. Later, please keep them in a different jar. Ask children to then identify the smells they recognize without looking.

7. Paint with a Scent

Who doesn’t love painting? Grab a painting brush, colors, paints, and water. Although the paint should be scented, this will help them match different smells with different objects. Ask the tiny tots to match the scent to what they paint. For instance, painting orange fruit using an orange fragrance.

8. Sensory Walk

Fill tubs with different items like sand, beads, shaving cream, and grass. And ask them to take a stroll on it. This will make sure they have fun while still feeling different sensations.

9. Feel it; Touch it

Take the cardboard and a board and stick different textures, such as fabrics or paper. Ask the children to describe the textures using adjectives when they touch them. This activity, combined with reading, will develop their sense of touch, memory, and vocabulary.

10. Mystery Touch Bag

Place a mystery bag and fill it with items. Ask your children to guess things correctly. You can use an empty tissue container or any bag for this activity. Here, they will be able to identify objects with a sense of touch.

11. Glockenspiel

The glockenspiel is a musical instrument with tuned metal bars that looks like a piano. It is played with a wooden or plastic stick. This can be used as a gift, and children can play this instrument all day long, learning different sounds, pitches, and tunes.

12. Visual Tracking

This is a visual exercise for children. You’ll have to arrange colored bottle caps in a circle on a table and place a colorful pom in the middle. Children must find matching bottle caps by moving only their heads and tracking with their eyes. This activity also works if your child cannot hear.

13. Use Your Senses to Explore Popcorn

All you will need is a cooker or popcorn maker and popcorn seeds for this activity. Allow children to watch the process, hear the popcorn popping sound, and smell the aroma. You can next ask them to feel the texture and taste it too.

14. Observation & Memory Game

Collect items and keep them in a tray. Show these items to children for 10–15 minutes before taking them away. Hand them a piece of paper and have them write down the maximum number of items they can remember. This is an excellent memory-strengthening activity. You can also inquire about the color of the things they recall.

15. Salt & Sugar Taste Test

Place salt and sugar separately on a piece of black paper. Before tasting it, the children have to describe what they see. Later, they will be able to touch and tell the difference. Next, tell them to taste it and explain how each item feels. This is an excellent game for distinguishing between two objects that other senses cannot.

16. Milk Taste Test

Mix different flavors into milk and let children taste it. Only catch? This should be done blindfolded. You can help by holding the cup for them. If your child is allergic to dairy, you can replace it with coconut milk or almond milk. Ask them to guess the flavors—a fun activity, for sure.

17. Exploring Tastes

Sweet, sour, bitter, and salty are four categories of tastes. Place different items in front of them according to a category: sugar for sweetness, lemon for sourness, salt for saltiness, and bitter gourd for bitterness. Next, bring different flavored food items and ask them to describe which category that food item fits into.

18. Explore Sound with a Hanger & String

Grab a hanger, and tie a string to the ends of the hanger. Then, making loud or soft sounds, tap it on a solid object, such as a desk. What is the pitch? The vibrations? Make children play this game to hear and feel sounds since they are holding strings in their hands.

19. Magnifying Glass Activity

Explore the sense of sight by placing an object in front of the children and handing them a magnifying glass. Then tell them to describe the objects they see through it. Ask them to describe small cuts, patterns they see, and differences in colors in the objects.

Another activity we did to explore our sense of sight was to use a magnifying glass to look closely at some flowers.

20. Sound Tubes

Please take a few empty paper towels, put different materials like rice, beans, and beads into them, and close the ends. Then let children discover what different-sized objects sound like.

Understanding Different Types of Learners: Help Set Your Child Up for Success!

In the end

Exploration is important. These activities are fun and make children curious about the world around them. And they also appreciate the senses and how they hold meaning for us and help us. The activities are not only great for fun, but also help them learn! Go ahead and try them now.