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Admin Bar Home > Fun Stuff! > Fun with Science > Using your Senses

Using Your Senses

WAKE UP YOUR TASTE BUDS 

MATERIALS:

• Blind folds or scarves
• Different foods & liquids (here are a few examples):
• Sugar 
• Salt
• Ice Cream 
• Honey
• Coffee
• Bacon
• Orange slices
• Banana slices
• Vegemite
• Lemon Juice/Slices
• Chocolate
• Milk
• Vinegar
• Containers for foods
• Straws to test liquids
• Spoons to dish out food
  
• When choosing the foods and liquids for your experiment select a variety of sweet, salty, sour and bitter flavors. 

STEPS:

1. Collect and prepare all the different foods that you are going to use in your test. Cut your straws in half to give you more.
2. Place the blind folds on the kids. Do not let them see the foods before the testing begins. Keep them in suspense and see if they can guess the food you have placed on their tongue.
3. Place one item at a time on each child's tongue and see who can guess the items that have been used. Use the straws as dropper and not for sipping by placing the straw in the liquid and positioning your thumb over the top of the straw to trap a drop or two of the liquid.
4. Ask the children to pinch their nose as you place a food item on their tongue and ask if they can guess what item of food it is.

Here are a few questions you could ask the kids when you have finished your experiment:

1. Were you a bit afraid of what food might be placed on your tongue?

2. Did any of the foods taste better or worse with the blind fold on?

3. Did you notice that your tongue discovered the different textures more?

4. What happened when you pinched your nose for the taste test?  Did you loose your sense of taste?

5.  Did you notice that your tongue sensed sweet, salty, bitter and sour foods on different parts of your tongue?

 

Do you hear what I hear?

 

MATERIALS:

• A blindfold
• Stuff to make noise: coins in a jar to jingle, a book to close, hands to clap. paper to crumple or rip, a ball to bounce, a jar to open, chippies to munch etc

 

STEPS:

1. Blindfold the children
2. Make each noise
3. As the children to guess what the noise is. How many did they get right?

 

Touch and Go

 

MATERIALS:

• A medium size cardboard box or a pillowcase
• Scissors
• One long sock
• Strong tape
• Items to fill the box or pillowcase: cup, spoon, ball, Lego, fruit, sponge, rock, a small bell, cotton ball, pine cone, feather etc

 

STEPS:

1. If using the pillowcase, put all object in the case.
2. If using a box, cut 2 holes in 2 different sides. It should be big enough for the children's hand to fit into.
3. Over 1 hole use strong tape to tape a long sock over the hole, so the children can put their hand in the sock and reach into the box. Leave the other hole open.
4. Add items to the box
5. Have the children reach into the pillowcase or box and try to identify objects. If using the pillowcase, the children can wear a sock on their hand.
6. See how many objects the children can identify with the sock on their hand. See if they are more successful if they reach directly into the box through the open hole.
7. Let them see what is inside the box.
8. Teach the children that touch, combined with sight, hearing and smell, is much more effective than touch alone. Its even tougher to identify objects if you don't have your full sense of touch, like if you have a sock or glove on your hand.