Our PreSchool Blog

Toddlers are experimenting, thinking, solving problems and learning all the time. Through exploration and experimentation, children develop the ability to think, understand, communicate, imagine, and work out what might happen next. In September our cognitive development focus is on the five senses.

I filled our mystery can with big marshmallows.  We shook the can and listened to the marshmallows bounce around using our sense of hearing.  After taking the lid off – I gave the toddlers a peak of what was inside.  We described the marshmallows as white, round, and bigger than tiny marshmallows.

The toddlers used their noses to use their sense of smell.

Every child got to choose one to use their sense of touch to feel and squish.

The best of the five senses was getting to taste the marshmallow!

We took our cognitive development focus one step further and put a lemon in the mystery can.  We went through all five senses and compared the lemon to the marshmallow.  The tasting resulted in some fun pictures.

Because our color of the month is yellow  and our shape is circle – We used large lemons to do prints!

Toddlers use all their senses to explore the world around them.  We spent some time naming the five senses, reading a story about our senses, then using all of our senses to observe a treat in the mystery can.

Hearing.  I shook the mystery can.  We used our ears and listened.  We decided it was a soft sound.

Sight.  I took the lid of the mystery can to give the toddlers a peak.  Inside were lots of round white items.  Marshmallows!

Smell.  We then used our nose to try out our sense of smell.  The marshmallows smelled sweet!

Touch.  We then used our hands to feel the squishy and soft marshmallows.

Taste.  Finally we got to taste the marshmallows.   Yummy!

Using our five senses strengthens our everyday experiences. The five senses introduce toddlers to methods of exploring the world around them and expanding their view of how things work. Drawing a child’s attention to the five senses and discussing them increases understanding of and communication about the world around us.

We used the all five senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste) to explore a giant marshmallow!

SENSE OF SOUND

Children use their ears to take in information about things around them.  Like other skills that children learn, listening takes practice. Indoors and outdoors, there are many opportunities for toddlers to engage their listening skills.  The marshmallows were hidden inside the mystery can.  We used our ears to try to guess what was in the can.  As I shook the can – our class discussed that they made a soft quiet sound.

SENSE OF SIGHT

When children play games that involve sight, they’re practicing early literacy skills!  Sight games help children recognize words, patterns, objects…and help them develop their memory!  Sense of sight activities help preschoolers learn about their eyes as they explore the world around them.  We used our eyes to observe the color, shape, and size of the marshmallow.

SENSE OF SMELL

Over time, children will recognize certain smells as comforting, yummy, scary, exciting, etc. As children are exposed to different smells, they learn more about our environment. They will be able to distinguish between good and bad smells, comfortable and uncomfortable smells.  In the toddler room, we used our noses to smell the sweet sugary marshmallows.

SENSE OF TOUCH

Most touch activities involve the hands and feet. Children learn how to communicate with others through touch. Engaging their hands builds their fine motor skills, helping them learn how to do more for themselves, such as writing their names and buttoning their coats.  Everyone got to hold a marshmallow.  We discussed that it was soft and squishy and sticky inside.

SENSE OF TASTE

Many events in a child’s life involve food. Sense of taste activities teach children that the sense of taste and smell are connected.  This was the best part – tasting the giant marshmallow!