This week introduces smell as a sense linked to the nose and gives children repeated practice identifying, describing, sorting, and matching odours. Scented art, stories, outdoor exploration, an ongoing senses book, and square-focused numeracy extend the investigation.
What children learn
- Understand that the nose supports breathing and provides the sense of smell.
- Identify, compare, and classify pleasant and unpleasant odours.
- Describe smells with vocabulary such as sweet, strong, fruity, fragrant, woody, and pungent.
- Match identical scents and connect smells with familiar objects and places.
- Recognise and explore squares through objects, movement, construction, collage, and painting.
Key activities
- Orange-peel mystery bag and smelling-bottle exploration
- Painting with scented paint made with citrus rind and mint
- Book of Senses smell page and pleasant/unpleasant object classification
- Pleasant and Unpleasant Odours sorting game
- Match the Scents using paired scent bottles
- Outdoor smell collection, Show and Tell, and square collage and art
You’ll need
orange and lemon peel, smelling bottles, cotton balls, essential oils and spices, flowers and perfumes, mint, assorted pleasant- and unpleasant-smelling objects, senses books, magazines, paper, paint and brushes, glue, square flashcards and cut-outs
Structure: 5 days; each day includes a Thought of the Day, Tuning-in Time, GMD, Cognition/Literacy, FMD, and Numeracy activities.