Story Time @ Home: Five Fantastic Senses!

Story time is a great place to engage a little one’s five senses.  See and hear a book being read.  Touch the pages as they turn.  Here are some creative ways to help your child engage all five senses as you learn together.

Read – Explore your five senses together in these cute picture books, opens a new window.  Let you child touch the pages and look at the details in the pictures.  What colors do they see?  When reading aloud together, talk about sounds.  What words rhyme or sound the same at the end?  If there are animals in the pictures, ask your child what sound they make.

Sing – Singing together is a wonderful opportunity to help your child explore several of their senses.  Singing helps children hear the smaller sounds in words.  Clapping along engages their body, allowing them to feel the rhythm and beat.  Even watching a caregiver’s mouth as they sing helps young children begin forming those letter sounds on their own.

Try singing this song to the tune of “B-I-N-G-O."

“We have five senses that we use
Each and every day.
Sight, smell, taste, touch, hear.
Sight, smell, taste, touch, hear.
Sight, smell, taste, touch, hear.
These are our five senses.”

Sing it again, this time instead of singing “sight,” have your child point to their eyes.  Repeat until you are pointing to all five body parts in a row.

Play – Take a Five Senses Nature Walk, opens a new window. Have your child draw pictures of what they saw, smelled, tasted, and touched.

Talk – Talking about the things kids see, hear, taste, touch, and smell is a great way to introduce new vocabulary.  Have them describe their snack using their five senses.  What color is the carrot stick?  What sound does it make when you bite it?  Does the cracker taste salty or sweet?  Is the yogurt creamy or gushy?  Exploring with their senses helps children to experience new words in a concrete way.

Write – Writing letters and numbers can be a fun sensory experience.  Have your child use their fingers to write in sand, salt, shaving cream, or yogurt.  Write on foggy windows and feel the cold glass.  You can even add extracts like mint or lemon to plain yogurt and encourage your little ones to sniff and taste as they write.

If you want to bring even more story time fun home, check out our Senses: Story Time Backpack.  This backpack is full of rhymes, songs, books, and other items to enjoy a Five Senses story time anywhere.  You can also find our own Five Senses story time with Ms. Marie on YouTube, opens a new window!