Five Senses Preschool Theme

Art Activities Block Area

Circle Time Activities Cooking Recipes

Dramatic Play Ideas Easel Ideas

Gross Motor Games Library and Literacy

Math And Manipulatives Activities Music and Movement

Sand and Water Table Science Activities

Writing Activities

Glitter Plates Sense of Sight

Materials Needed: paper plates, glue, paint brushes and lots and lots of glitter!

This activity is self explanatory AND messy! You will have glitter everywhere for a while!

Encourage the children to completely glue the plate and then add glitter to the entire plate.

When you shut off the lights and shine a flashlight on these, they are beautiful!

For easier clean-up, have large trays or cookie sheets available. Place one container of glitter on each tray. The children move from tray to tray to use the glitter colors that they want.

Also, if you place a very small piece of paper towel folded up inside the container, it will slow down the amount of glitter that comes out.

Kool Aid Playdough Sense of Smell

Materials Needed: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 packet of unsweetened Kool-aid, 1 cup of salt, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 2 cups of water.

Heat the water up (in the microwave or on the stove). Add in the kool aid and the oil.

In a separate bowl, mix in 2 cups of the flour and all of the salt.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir.

Add more of the flour as needed to make a consistent playdough.

The children LOVE to make their own playdough. Allow them to smell each ingredient as they put them into the bowls.

Be careful with the water!

This playdough smells great and will last for up to a month in a sealed bag or container.

Smelly Flowers Sense of Smell

Thank you Amy from Stillwater, OK for this activity!

Make a flower pattern with a circle for the center. Have the children help glue the flower together. Meanwhile mix yellow paint with fragrant hand lotion until the paint smells like the lotion. Paint each child's hand with the scented paint and place their hand print on the center circle. When it dries the flower smells like the lotion. Hang them on the wall and encourage the children to "stop and smell the flowers" as well as reinforcing we use our nose for our sense of smell. I did this activity in an Early Preschool Classroom and teachers, the children and parents loved them!

Sponge Paint

Give the children soft and hard sponge pieces to paint with!

Golf Ball Painting

Inside a tray or box lid, place a piece of paper. Drop some watered down paint (use many colors!) on the paper. Drop in 2 golf balls. The children shake the tray or lid from side to side to paint with the golf balls!

Plastic Wrap Beauties

Let the children paint on plastic wrap. When done, cover with another piece of plastic wrap and hang on the windows!

<FIVE SENSES THEME>

Return to Top

Block Area

Five Senses Theme Block Center Ideas

Car Sounds

Add paper towel tubes and toy cars to the block area. The children will love the sound the cars make in the tubes as they make ramps out of them!

Bristle Blocks

These blocks have such a great texture to them! Definitely have them out for building this week!

<FIVE SENSES THEME>

Return to Top

Circle Time Activities

Five Senses Theme Circle Time Ideas

Feely Box or Bag

Bring a cloth bag or a box with a hole in it. Bring items that have different textures (sandpaper, wet cotton ball, cooked pasta). Add one item and let the children feel and guess!

What's That Sound

In advance, record many sounds such as a cat meowing, a dog barking, someone walking, a car horn blowing, etc. (You may also be able to find sound CD's online).

Play a sound and pause the tape or CD and have the children try to guess what each sound is.

Braille

Borrow a few Braille books from the library for the children to see and touch while you explain how others read using them.

<FIVE SENSES THEME>

Return to Top

Cooking Recipes

Snack Recipe Ideas to Cook Up for Your Theme!

Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions. It also allows for some great conversation! Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation! Be sure to ask specific themed questions while making these fun snacks!

Yogurt Shakes

Ingredients and Items needed: Milk, frozen yogurt and a blender!

Just add these materials and enjoy the taste! Try different flavors and colors of frozen yogurt!

Personal Pizza

Make personal pizzas using english muffins, sauce, cheese, vegetables, etc.

Discuss the tastes and smells as the children put together their own personal pizza for snack!

Popcorn

Show the children different types of corn: Corn on the cob, canned corn, Indian corn, and popcorn kernels.

Of course, make some popcorn!

Thumb Print Cookies

Make cookies. Instead of pressing the dough, make them into small 1/4 inch balls and have the children place their thumbprint in it before you bake them!

Warm, Cold Snack

Have warm and cold at snack time today to discuss the differences! Try hot chocolate and ice cream or Cold lemonade and warm cookies!

Home Made Bread

Make your favorite bread recipe with the children, such as banana bread or gingerbread, and talk about the smells as you make it and as you eat it!

Lemonade (Thank you, Elizabeth, for this idea!)

I let the children make their own cups of lemonade. When I squeeze the lemons I also cut a small slice for each child. On their paper towel or small plate I give them each a slice of lemon and a litter sugar. I then give them a cup with some water in it and ask them to taste, smell, and feel each ingredient separately. We talk about the differences and what they think about each one. I also like to talk about, when cooking, how ingredients that we may not like can turn into something we do like.   Then the children make their own cup of lemonade however they like. I have found it so interesting how they each like it. We start off with a little sugar in each child's cup and add more as the child wants it.

<FIVE SENSES THEME>

Return to Top

Dramatic Play Ideas

Five Senses Theme Ideas to Transform Your Dramatic Play Area

Dress Up

Provide different types of dress up clothing with different textures: furry animal outfits, silk dresses, wool coat, etc.

Nighttime Picnic

Set up your dramatic play area with picnic items such as a basket with play food, a blanket or sleeping bags and flashlights!

Eye Doctor

Create an Eye Doctor' office in dramatic play this week! Add an eye chart, mirrors, doctor kits, table and chairs, clipboards and pens, play glasses, etc.

<FIVE SENSES THEME>

Return to Top

Easel Ideas

Five Senses Theme Ideas for your Easel--More Than Just Painting (Although that is always THE favorite in our classroom!)

Glitter Paint

Add Glitter to the paint at your easel this week!

Seasoned Water Painting (Thank you, Elizabeth, for this idea!)

I add water to seasoning. And nothing is off limits cumin, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, etc. Each seasoning requires different amounts of water. I then give the children paint brushes and paper or card stock to paint on. The room will smell but it is worth it. I talk to the children about the different textures, smells, and colors while they are painting with the seasoning. It is fun to see what they choose and why.

<FIVE SENSES THEME>

Return to Top

Gross Motor Games

Five Senses Theme Large Group Games that help build their muscles while they have fun together

Obstacle Course

Watch Out! Snake!

Using a jump rope, have 2 children hold the ends of the rope and shake it back and forth as the other children try to jump over the "snake"...they'll have to use their great eyesight to keep their eyes on it!

Traffic Light Thank you Argyll from Scotland for this idea!

An active game using sight.

Discuss what traffic has to do at the lights.

Children will be the traffic and have to obey the traffic lights.

Hold up colored objects ( plastic cones from PE, bean-bags, toys, circles)

Initially tell the children what to do each time you change the color you hold up. Progress to telling them you're changing the color. Older children may be able to look often enough that you don't need to remind them to change what they need to do.

Recently in my (Miss Cheryl's) classroom, the teacher held up a sign made of a red circle on one side and a green on the other side and flipped over the 'traffic light' for the children to follow!

<FIVE SENSES THEME>

Return to Top