The 5 Senses for 3-5 year olds

Seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling. These are the five senses. The 5 Senses are the special ways that living things can learn and know about the world around us. Each one is special and helps us do so many things together – like reading!

Watch videos, download books to read together, and explore things to do with BookSpring.

Read Together

Here are some books to read together! You can download and save them and keep them forever, to read again and again.

Sounds at Night!

  • Why couldn’t Pappu the puppy sleep?
  • What animals were making noise around the forest?
  • What sounds wake you up at night?

Sweet Smells

  • What are some things the character smells?
  • What smells good? What smells bad?
  • What is your favorite smell?

What Does Anu See?

  • What are some things that Anu sees?
  • Where does Anu like to look at things?
  • Can you find five things that Anu saw in your own home?

 

Unathi y la bestia sucia y maloliente

  • What are the main scents used in the story?
  • What animal is the beast?

Mis Cinco Sentidos

  • What are your five senses?
  • What part of your body do you use for:
      • smelling?
      • tasting?
      • seeing?
      • listening?
      • touching?

Que Olor Tan Dulce

    • What are some things the character smells?
    • What smells good? What smells bad?
    • What is your favorite smell?

Dulce Y Amargo

    • Can you think of 3 foods that taste sweet?
    • Can you think of 3 foods that taste sour?

Things to do Together

Let’s use our senses:

Hearing:

  • Choose a few objects that make a sound (keys rattling, paper crumpling, scissors opening and closing, paper tearing, fingers snapping). Make the noise behind your back and see if your child can identify what it is.
  • Listening game: Have your child sit in the middle of the room – walk quietly around them and say their name from different spots in the room. Can they point to where you are standing each time you speak? 

Touching:

  • Spray a small amount of shaving cream on a smooth surface (a baking sheet/tray or the bottom of the bathtub) and let your child spread it out and draw a picture in it using their finger. How does the shaving cream feel?
  • Choose some small toys to put into a pillowcase – can your child tell you what they toys are by putting their hand into the pillowcase and feeling the shape of each one? No peeking!

Smelling:

  • Did you know that you can smell plants by rubbing the leaves between your fingers and then smelling them? Take a walk around your yard or neighborhood and see what different plants smell like.

Tasting:

  • Have your child close their eyes while you feed them small amounts of food (this could be a dinner time game). Can they tell you what food it is without looking? What sense helped them figure it out (smell)

Seeing:

  • Play “I spy” by choosing something you both can see and giving your child clues about it. For example, “I spy with my little eye something green” – leaf of a tree

Play a Senses Discovery Game | Elinor Wonders Why from our partners Austin PBS

Share Together

At the end of the week, reflect on what you read and what you did. 

  • Can you remember what your five senses are?
  • Which one do you think you use the most?
  • Which one do you think you use the least?

Come back each Sunday for new Weekly Themes from BookSpring. Meanwhile, keep reading for more parent tips and recommendations!

 

Please share your photos and stories by emailing them to communications@bookspring.org or tag us on FacebookTwitter, or Instagram with #BookSpringATX #ReadTogether. Also, remember to subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more weekly themes and Community Storytime videos.


BookSpring Weekly Themes are released for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.  You are free to use and share this for personal and educational

The 5 Senses for 3-5 year olds
Week 5 senses Ages 3-5
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