The Five Senses: Taste

Today we talked about the sense of taste.  I gathered the items pictured above so the children could do a little taste test.  Sugar=Sweet; Salt=Salty; Lemon Juice=Sour; Unsweetened Chocolate=Bitter

I gave each child a plate with a small amount of the four items, and we tried them one at a time.  I asked the children which they wanted to taste first and they picked the chocolate.  It is always funny when children use their sense of sight and think that anything that looks like chocolate is going to taste like the sweet chocolate candies they are used to.  Boy did I get some strange looks when the kids tried the bitter chocolate.  The lemon juice got a similar response.  The salt and sugar looked alike, so the kids finally realized why their sense of taste is so important.  🙂

Next, we listened to the book The Hungry Thing Returns by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler.  I had found the book and tape at a Goodwill and it was a fun change.  I especially appreciated the tape since I have had a sore throat for the past few days.  The children thought this was a funny book and it worked well for today since there was a lot of talk about food by the hungry thing.

Later the children completed another page for their five senses books.  I gave them the option of either coloring pictures of foods they like to eat, or cutting them out of magazines.  A few children chose to simply draw foods on their papers.

Others chose to use only pictures they cut out of magazines, and some did a combination of both.  I labeled the foods they put on their papers. 

Another activity we did was to take some food picture cards and determine how each food would taste.  I found out something I was pretty sure I already knew.  The children seem to like foods that fall into the sweet category.  Their teacher does, too.  🙂

We had a great morning and will finish our study of the five senses on Friday.  I will have the five senses book available for you to download as well.  Check back tomorrow for a fun activity that my own children did over the weekend.  Have a great day.