Taste and Smell
Personal Social and Emotional
Create smelling pots by adding scents or smelly objects inside spice jars. As the children smell each pot, can they describe the smell? Do they like it? Children can sort the smelling pots onto happy and sad faces to show how the smell makes them feel. Provide a selection of snack choices in pots for the children to try. Encourage children to try both familiar and new tastes and talk about whether they like or don’t like them.
Communication and Language
Model vocabulary for the children for example like, dislike, sweet, sharp, sour. Discuss the textures for example soft, hard, rough, smooth, or chewy. Talk about what smells and tastes they like and dislike.
Physical Development
Use different tools to explore food materials activating their sense of smell and taste. For example, use rolling pins and mashers to explore cereal. The children can smell and even taste them once crushed!
Literacy
Read the story ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ and bring in the food for the children to taste and smell. See if the children can use the vocabulary we have modelled throughout the week.
Mathematics
Create a sensory water tray by adding different scents, such as lavender, rose petals, bubble bath or rosemary. Add jugs and containers for children to explore capacity.
Understanding of the World
Use different tools to explore food materials activating all their senses. For example, use rolling pins and mashers to explore cereal. Children can see how the cereal crumbles, hear them crunch as they roll or mash, explore the movements they produce, smell the cereal, and even taste them once crushed!
Expressive Art and Design
Create a beautiful-smelling flower garden picture. Encourage children to paint a flower and glue a cupcake case in the centre. Children can then select a scent that can be dripped onto a cotton wool ball and glued into the case. You might like to try peppermint essence or vanilla extract.
Focused Vocabulary
Smell, nose, taste, mouth, soft, hard, sour, and sweet.