Lesson About the Five Senses for Preschool
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Your preschool students may already know a little about the senses, but they may not be able to name all five. This lesson will act as an introduction.

Materials

Chart Paper

Markers

Poem - “Counting Senses” by Risa Jordan

Five large pieces of chart paper or construction paper

Magazines to cut pictures from

Glue, scissors

Procedure

Before presenting the lesson copy the poem, “Counting Senses” by Risa Jordan, onto a large piece of chart paper:

“Counting Senses”

I see with my eyes,

I hear with my ears,

Two eyes, two ears.

I taste with my mouth,

I smell with my nose,

One mouth, one nose.

I touch with my hands,

I feel with my toes,

Two hands, ten toes.

My senses tell me

I’m truly alive.

Senses, one two, three, four, five!

by Risa Jordan-https://www.ststephencatholicschool.org/Kindergarten/counting_senses.htm

Ask the students if they can name any of the five senses. List any if the senses they can name on chart paper. Then show them the poem and read it aloud the them. After you read it, ask the class help you fill in any of the senses that might have been left off of the chart. Look at your chart and discuss each sense and what body part we use with it. On the chart list some things that you can see, hear, feel, taste and smell.

Divide the students up into five groups and give each group a large piece of paper with one of the five senses written at the top. Then give them glue, scissors and magazines, and have them find and cut out pictures of things to go with the sense they have. Have them glue the pictures on the paper to make a collage. If you don’t want them to cut and glue, you can let them draw and color pictures too. When all of the groups are finished, they can share their collages with the rest of the class.

Assess

Go to each student individually and ask him to name the five senses. You can also ask each to students to describe the sense that her collage was about. What objects did she put on the collage? What body parts are associated with that sense? As you observe the students working on the collages, you can informally assess their cutting and gluing skills and how well they work together.

Extend

Give each student a small six page book with My Five Senses written on the first page. Write I can see, I can hear, I can smell, I can taste and I can feel at the top of the other five pages. On each page tell the students to draw pictures to go with that sense. On the I can see page, they would draw things that they can see, etc.

Books about the Five Senses

Here are some great books about the five senses to share with your preschool students.

  • My Five Senses Big Book by Aliki - This is a good book to introduce your students to the senses and how we use them every day. This big book version works great for shared reading, but it is also available in a smaller paperback.
  • You Can’t Taste a Pickle With Your Ear by Harriet Ziefert - Each of the short chapters in this book focuses on one of the five senses and ends with a few questions to get your students talking.
  • How Do You Know?: A Book about the Five Senses by Lisa Jayne - Here is another fun book about the five senses for younger children.
  • The 5 Senses by Nuria Roca - Follow two children as they use their senses to learn about the world around them.

All of these great books and more are available on Amazon.

This post is part of the series: The Five Senses: Preschool Activities

Learning about the five senses is an important part of the preschool curriculum. Teach your preschoolers all about the senses using these activities involving sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch.

  1. The Five Senses: A Preschool Lesson Plan
  2. Making a Tambourine: Fun Preschool Craft to Go With A Five Senses Unit