Smells and Tastes

This week we continued learning about the five senses. We talked about how we smell with our nose and taste with our mouth.  We discussed what we smell, how we sneeze and some things that we do not put up our nose! We also discussed how we eat and what we can and cannot eat. We learned that our tongue is a muscle in your mouth and the bumps are taste buds for sending taste messages to our brain.

We began the week with an introduction to smell and taste, we read the book "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," by Pam Adams and "My Five Senses," by Aliki Brandenberg.  Each child was given an item to explore their senses and share with the group which senses they used.  For example, reading a book, holding a piece of apple, or playing in the sand table.  We also played a color game to strengthen our listening  and following directions skills. 

The preschoolers did a sniff test using scented makers to see if the smell was Yummy or Yucky. Yummy included cotton candy, marshmallows and watermelon and they labeled barnyard and lemonade as yucky. The preschoolers each took a turn shaking cinnamon into the sensory table for and additional sensory experience. One child remarked, “This reminds me of pancakes, I think I’m going to ask my Dad to put cinnamon on my pancakes instead of syrup.”  

As the week continued, the pre-k children drew a still life of a real flower in a vase and then used scented kool-aide to give their flowers a wonderful scent such as lemonade and watermelon. However, the children thought that the sour apple smelled kind of yucky or as one child said “This smells disgusting.”  Another day we tasted lemons and limes and we watched each other’s lips and face to see how they reacted.  Most of our friends liked the lemon taste and said it tasted "sour," "normal" or simply, "like lemons."  

To wrap up the week, the children used white glue to make designs on black paper and then sprinkled paprika, cinnamon, basil and dry mustard onto the glue, they called themselves, “artist.”  They talked about how cinnamon reminds them of breakfast and basil reminds them of pasta.  For snack, we all made smoothies with fruit and yogurt what a fun time we all had!

        

Ms. Mary Beth's movement class was all about our families. The children each had a moment to tell the class who is in their family. We all sang "Where is Thumpkin," "Down Down Baby," "Rock-a-Bye Baby" and we danced to "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge.

        
Mr. Ed was back from vacation and the children were very happy to sing along with him and his guitar!

What's up next?     
Next week we'll be exploring another of our five senses, touch.

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

October 3: October tuition is due
October 5: Curriculum Night - check your Evite for more details and to RSVP!
October 10: SEE closed in observance of Columbus Day
TBA: Halloween celebration
November 1: November tuition is due
November 11: SEE closed in observance of Veteran's Day
November 23: SEE closes at 3:00pm
November 24-25: SEE closed in observance of Thanksgiving

Pictures from the week:

"This lime smells sweet"

                                      

Some glue and spices made a beautiful scented picture

                                      

A great ending to smell and taste week - we made smoothies!

Ms. Pauline