The most fun thing to do with fruit is to eat it, but we can have fun with our other senses, too! In this activity, your child will use his five senses to describe various fruits or snacks.
- paper or other writing surface, like a whiteboard
- pen, pencil or marker
- assorted fruits or snacks
Step 1: Prepare the fruit or snacks so that they can be eaten.
Step 2: On the paper or writing surface, write the names of the five senses and draw a picture to represent each of them: see (eyes), hear (ears), smell (nose), touch (fingers), taste (mouth). Make sure your child knows which body part to use for each sense.
Step 3: Point to the picture of one of the senses. For example, your might point to the eye as you choose a fruit or snack to describe. Ask your child to describe what he sees with his eyes. Ask him questions or expand on his observations by providing more details.
Step 4: Continue with the remaining four senses.
Step 5: After taste, give your child the rest of the fruit or snack to enjoy!
Step 6: If your child is still engaged, prepare another snack for him to examine with his five senses. You might even examine the snacks yourself with your five senses and see if your observations match or differ.
Continue the conversation by reading Mangos for Max together.
Limit to two or three senses.
A fun guessing game might include giving your child some “sense” clues for fruits or snacks. See if he can guess the fruit or snack by the characteristics used to describe it. For example,an apple can be described by the words red, sweet and crunchy. An additional challenge would be for your child to have his eyes closed while smelling and/or touching a fruit or snack to determine what it is.
Introducing a fruit or snack that your child has not eaten before would also be an exciting challenge for his senses!
