Engaging Five Senses Lesson Plan for Preschool & Kindergarten

Discover a fun, interactive way to teach children about the five senses! This complete lesson plan for preschoolers and kindergarteners is packed with hands-on activities, a printable worksheet, and a creative 'Sense Walk' to explore sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Create Your Own Custom Lesson Plan
PDF

Lesson Plan: My Amazing Senses Adventure!

Materials Needed

  • The book: "My Five Senses" by Aliki
  • "My 5 Senses" worksheet
  • Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
  • A pencil (for tracing and writing)
  • A blank sheet of paper or a small whiteboard

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:

  • Identify and name the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch).
  • Match each sense to its corresponding body part (eyes, ears, nose, mouth/tongue, hands/skin).
  • Provide at least one example of something they can experience with each sense.

Lesson Activities

Part 1: The Warm-Up - A Sense Mystery! (5 minutes)

  1. Engage with a Question: Start by asking, "How do we learn about the world around us? What parts of our body help us?" Listen to your child's ideas.
  2. Play "What Do You Hear?": Ask your child to close their eyes for 30 seconds and just listen. When they open their eyes, ask them to name all the different sounds they heard (a clock ticking, a bird outside, a car driving by, etc.). This gets them thinking about one of their senses right away!

Part 2: Story Time - Exploring Our Senses (10 minutes)

  1. Introduce the Book: Show the cover of "My Five Senses" by Aliki. Say, "This book is all about the special powers we have to explore our world. We call them our five senses."
  2. Read Aloud Together: Read the book aloud with enthusiasm. As you read about each sense, pause and connect it to your child.
    • When reading about sight, ask: "What are two things you can see in the room right now?"
    • When reading about hearing, ask: "Can you make a happy sound? A quiet sound?"
    • When reading about smell, ask: "What is your favorite smell in the kitchen?"
    • When reading about taste, ask: "What is your favorite food to taste? Is it sweet or salty?"
    • When reading about touch, ask: "Find something soft near you to touch. Now find something hard."

Part 3: Worksheet Fun - Showing What We Know (15 minutes)

  1. Introduce the Worksheet: Lay out the "My 5 Senses" worksheet and the coloring supplies. Say, "Now it's our turn to be the artist and writer, just like Aliki! We're going to show everything we learned about our senses."
  2. Coloring Time: Encourage your child to color the pictures on the worksheet that represent each sense (the eye, ear, nose, etc.). This is a great time for quiet focus and fine motor practice.
  3. Word Tracing: Point to the first labeled sense (e.g., "sight"). Read the word aloud together. Guide your child to use a pencil to carefully trace the letters. Continue for all five sense words.
    • Teacher Tip (Differentiation): If tracing is challenging, write the word first with a yellow highlighter and have your child trace over the yellow. If your child is ready for a challenge, have them try to write the word on their own next to the traced word.

Part 4: Application - Our Big Senses List! (10 minutes)

  1. Prepare Your List: Take out the blank piece of paper or whiteboard. Write the five senses as headings, leaving space under each one (e.g., SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE, TOUCH).
  2. Brainstorm Together: Work together to create a list. Go through one sense at a time. Ask, "Let's think of all the things we can SEE." Write down the child's ideas as they say them. You can write the words and have them draw a small picture next to it.
  3. Example Prompts:
    • SEE: "What do you see outside the window?" (sun, trees, car)
    • HEAR: "What sounds does our pet make?" (bark, meow)
    • SMELL: "What do we smell when we bake cookies?" (sugar, chocolate)
    • TASTE: "What do we taste when we eat a lemon? An apple?" (sour, sweet)
    • TOUCH: "How does your fuzzy blanket feel? How does the floor feel?" (soft, hard)

Part 5: Creative Extension - Go on a "Sense Walk"! (10-15 minutes)

Let's put our senses to work! Go for a short walk around your house or yard. On your walk, actively hunt for things using one sense at a time.

  • "For one minute, we are only going to use our eyes. What can you find?" (A red flower, a shiny leaf, a fast-moving ant).
  • "Now, let's be very quiet and only use our ears. What can you hear?" (A bird chirping, the wind in the trees, a distant lawnmower).
  • "Let's use our super-smeller noses. What can you smell near the garden?" (Flowers, damp soil).
  • "Let's use our sense of touch. Gently touch the tree bark. Now touch a smooth leaf. How do they feel different?" (Rough vs. smooth).
  • (Save taste for a safe snack inside after the walk!).

Wrap-Up & Assessment

To finish the lesson, have a quick, fun chat. This helps you see what your child learned.

  • Ask: "If you could only have ONE of your five senses for a day, which one would you pick and why?"
  • Review the "Big Senses List" you made together and praise their great ideas.
  • Display the colored worksheet proudly on the fridge or a bulletin board!