My Amazing Body: A Five-Senses Discovery Adventure
Materials Needed
- A small bag or box
- Safe objects to explore: a soft cloth, a bumpy ball, a spoon, a toy, a scented item such as cinnamon or an orange, and a small musical instrument or container with rice
- Paper and crayons or markers
- Five-senses recording sheet or a blank piece of paper divided into five sections
- Small cup of water and a small taste of a safe food, such as a raisin, cracker, or apple slice; check for allergies first
- Number cards or handwritten numbers 1–5
- Optional: mirror, timer, and child-safe headphones
Lesson Snapshot
Age range: Early childhood
Length: 30 minutes
Theme: My body and five senses
Learning areas: Early math, inquiry and play, language and literacy
Learning Objectives
By the end of the lesson, the learner will be able to:
- Name the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
- Match each sense with the body part that helps us use it.
- Use descriptive words to tell how an object looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels.
- Count and organize objects or discoveries from 1–5.
- Make a prediction, investigate using a sense, and explain what was discovered.
Success Criteria
I can:
- Name at least four of the five senses.
- Match eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin to the correct sense.
- Describe at least three objects using sensory words.
- Count my sensory discoveries from 1–5.
- Share one prediction and one discovery.
Lesson Sequence
1. Introduction: The Mystery Sense Bag – 5 minutes
Hook: Place one familiar object inside a bag. Say, “A mystery object is hiding! How can we find out what it is without looking?”
Explore
- Invite the learner to feel the object without looking.
- Ask, “What does it feel like? Is it smooth, rough, hard, soft, heavy, or light?”
- Let the learner guess what is inside.
- Reveal the object and compare the prediction with the discovery.
Connect to language: Introduce the word sense. Explain that our senses help us learn about the world.
Quick check: Ask, “Which body part helped you explore the mystery object?” Guide the learner toward skin and touch.
2. I Do: Meet the Five Senses – 5 minutes
Use your body and gestures to introduce each sense. Have the learner copy the movements.
| Sense | Body Part | Action and Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sight | Eyes | Look at colors, shapes, and sizes. |
| Hearing | Ears | Listen to sounds, music, and voices. |
| Smell | Nose | Notice scents such as orange, soap, or cinnamon. |
| Taste | Tongue | Notice flavors such as sweet, salty, sour, or bitter. |
| Touch | Skin | Feel textures, temperature, and shape. |
Memory chant: Say and act out: “Eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, tongue tastes, skin feels!” Repeat it together two or three times.
Math connection: Count the five senses together. Show the number card 5 and explain that there are five main senses.
3. We Do: Five-Senses Investigation – 10 minutes
Tell the learner, “We are going to become sense detectives. We will make predictions, investigate, and record our discoveries.”
Investigation Steps
- Choose one object or experience.
- Ask, “What do you predict?”
- Use one sense to investigate.
- Describe what was noticed.
- Record the discovery with a drawing, word, symbol, or tally mark.
Explore several of the following stations. The learner may choose the order.
- Touch: Compare a soft cloth and a bumpy ball. Use words such as soft, rough, smooth, hard, and squishy.
- Hearing: Shake a container with rice and tap a spoon. Which sound is louder or quieter?
- Smell: Smell an orange or cinnamon. Is the smell strong, mild, sweet, or spicy?
- Taste: Taste a small, allergy-safe food. Is it sweet, salty, crunchy, soft, or juicy?
- Sight: Look at two objects. Which is bigger, smaller, brighter, darker, or a different color?
Early Math Prompts
- “How many senses have we investigated so far? Let’s count.”
- “Which object has more bumps? Which has fewer?”
- “Can you find two objects that are the same color?”
- “Can you make a group of three things that feel soft?”
- “Which sound was louder? Which sound was quieter?”
Formative Assessment
Pause after two or three investigations and ask the learner to match a sense to its body part. For example:
- “Which body part helped us hear the rice shaker?”
- “Which sense helped us notice the orange smell?”
- “Can you show me the body part we use for taste?”
4. You Do: Create a Sense Detective Report – 7 minutes
Invite the learner to choose one favorite object or experience and make a short report.
Choice of Activity
- Draw: Draw the object and add details about how it looks, feels, smells, sounds, or tastes.
- Write or dictate: Complete the sentence, “I used my ______ to ______. I noticed ______.”
- Act it out: Pretend to use one sense while an adult guesses which sense it is.
- Sort: Place objects into groups such as smooth/rough, loud/quiet, big/small, or sweet/not sweet.
Encourage the learner to include at least:
- One drawing or selected object
- One body part
- One sense
- One descriptive word
- One number, tally mark, or counted group
Feedback prompt: Give specific feedback, such as, “You used the word rough to describe the ball. That tells me exactly what your skin noticed.”
5. Conclusion: Sense Song and Recap – 3 minutes
Sing or say the chant together:
“Eyes see, ears hear,
Nose smells, tongue tastes,
Skin feels things far and near.
Five senses help us learn each day!”
Recap Questions
- “What are the five senses?”
- “Which body part helps you hear?”
- “What was one thing you discovered today?”
- “How many main senses do we have?”
Finish with an exit statement: “Today I used my ______ to discover ______.” The learner may say, draw, point to, or act out the answer.
Assessment
Formative Assessment
- Listen for correct use of sensory vocabulary during the investigations.
- Observe whether the learner matches body parts to senses.
- Ask prediction and comparison questions during play.
- Check counting, sorting, and use of words such as more, fewer, loud, quiet, big, small, smooth, and rough.
Summative Assessment
The learner completes a sense detective report or explains one discovery orally. Successful work includes a correct body-part-and-sense match, one descriptive word, and a counted group or number from the investigation.
Differentiation and Adaptations
For a Learner Who Needs More Support
- Focus on two or three senses first, then add the others.
- Offer choices: “Was it soft or rough?” rather than asking an open-ended question.
- Use body-part gestures, real objects, and repeated chants.
- Allow pointing, drawing, signing, or selecting picture/word cards instead of speaking or writing.
- Count together while touching each object one time.
For a Learner Ready for More Challenge
- Investigate whether one object can be explored with more than one sense.
- Create a simple chart showing the number of objects in each category.
- Compare results using complete sentences: “The bell was louder than the rice shaker.”
- Write a three-sentence sense detective story.
- Design a mystery object challenge for another person.
Safety Notes
- Use only safe, familiar materials and supervise all investigations.
- Check for food allergies and choking hazards before the taste activity.
- Never ask the learner to taste an unknown object.
- Use gentle smells and sounds, and allow the learner to skip any activity that feels uncomfortable.
Optional Follow-Up Play
During the day, play “Sense Spotter.” Find one thing to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Count the discoveries to five and describe each one using a new sensory word.