Kids use their five senses each day, but they may not stop to think about how their senses help them learn about the world around them. Experiments dealing with sight, hearing, taste, feeling and smell teach kids to hone in on one specific sense. The science activities develop an understanding of how the senses work together and independently in everyday situations.
What's That Sound?
Kids rely heavily on sight to identify what's happening around them. A blindfold to block out the sense of sight forces them to rely more on hearing. Make a series of sounds while the kids have their eyes closed or wear a blindfold. The kids guess the object or action based on what they hear. Another way to test the sense of hearing is with a sound walk. Move through different areas of the neighborhood or school to identify specific sounds they might not otherwise notice. Stand outside the school cafeteria while the cooks prepare lunch to identify the various cooking sounds, for example.
Feeling It Out
A box is a simple tool that aids in experimenting with the sense of touch. Cut a hole just large enough for a child's hand to fit through in the top of the box. Place an object inside the box. The kids take turns reaching inside, feeling the object and guessing what it is. Choose objects with different textures, such as a smooth tile, rough sandpaper, a squishy sponge, mushy cooked noodles and cold ice. A variation on the touch experiment is to have the kids put a glove on one hand. Have each child touch the object with both hands -- one wearing a glove and one without. Ask the kids to describe the difference in how the object feels when the glove creates a barrier. For example, the ice won't feel as cold on the gloved hand.
A blind taste test challenges the kids' sense of taste in this easy experiment. Use a blindfold or ask the kids to keep their eyes closed during the experiment. The kids taste several foods and guess what they taste. Choose foods with strong flavors from different categories. For example, include a sour lemon, sweet marshmallow and bitter piece of unsweetened chocolate. If you don't want to mess with blindfolds, have the kids taste each food item knowing what it is ahead of time. Have them record data about each food, including how it tastes and how intense the flavor. Have the kids hold their noses at first to see if the sense of smell affects the flavor of the food.
Mystery smells put kids' noses to the test. For a simple experiment, put several items with strong scents into small, opaque containers, such as black film canisters. Examples include spices, coffee, onion, mint and vinegar. To prevent spills, soak a cotton ball with any liquid items, such as vinegar or perfume, so the liquids don't leak from the container. Punch a small hole in the top so the smell wafts out without revealing the item inside. The kids guess the item inside based only on the smell.
Experiments that take away the sense of sight show kids how hard their eyes work, but another way to experiment with sight is to test depth perception. By closing one eye, kids learn how the eyes work together. Have the kids perform a task, such as throwing a ball to a partner or tossing a ball into a container, with both eyes. Cover one eye with an eye patch and have the kids try the task again. They should find the task more challenging with the use of only one eye.
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