Our Five Senses

• Samples of Braille

What to do

1. This activity can be extended over four or five days:
   
   Day 1: Seeing
   Day 2: Hearing
   Day 3: Touching
   Day 4: Smelling and Tasting
   
   
2. Talk about how we learn about what's going on around us with our five senses-seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting.
3. As each sense is discussed talk about what it would be like if one could not fully use that particular sense (visually impaired, blind; hearing impaired, deaf). Talk about what could help(eyeglasses, seeing-eye dog, Braille, hearing aid, sign language). On Seeing Day show samples of Braille. On Hearing Day teach the children sign language.

More to do

Seeing Day: Toilet Paper Roll Binoculars-each child will need two toilet paper rolls to paint and draw designs with markers. Attach the two rolls together with clear tape andpunch two holes at the end of each roll to run yarn through the holes to make a necklace for the children to wear the binoculars around their necks. Use the binoculars inside to look at specificobjects or outside at objects in nature (do not walk while looking through the binoculars).

Hearing Day: Paper Plate Shakers-each child will need two paper plates to decorate with crayons, markers. Staple the plates together (inside edges of the plates touch to create spacebetween the plates) and leave a small opening. Fill the space with pebbles or dry beans and staple closed. The children can compare the sounds that their different shakers make.

Touching Day: Feely Board-Trace each child's hand on a piece of poster board or construction paper and ask each child to glue a different textured item (sandpaper, cotton ball,piece of fur, small piece of tile) onto each finger outline.

Games: Each day change the game, for example, (Seeing Day) ask the children to look at another child and describe what that child looks like; (Hearing Day) describe something in theclassroom that makes a sound. Describing Game-a child looks around the room and says, "I'm thinking of something that is...... (describe object, one description at a time, addingdescriptions until the other children guess the object).

Home connection: Ask the children to bring an object that makes a noise (Hearing Day), an object that has a distinctive aroma (Smelling Day).

Science: Seeing Day-use a prism to reflect sunlight to see and talk about the different colors. Hearing Day-provide a tape recording of various sounds for children to identify. Makea tape recording of the children's voices and ask the children to identify the voices. Touching Day-provide samples of different textures for children to feel and describe. Make a Feely Box anduse different objects for the children to feel and identify (block, toy car, comb, spoon).

Related books

Seeing Day:
Arthur's Eyes by Marc Brown
My Five Senses by Aliki

Hearing Day:
The Ear Book by Al Perkins
The Indoor Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown

Touching Day:
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins
Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault

Smelling and Tasting Day:
Arthur's Nose by Marc Brown
The Popcorn Book by Tomie dePaola

Deborah R. Gallagher, Bridgeport, CT