A Game of Scents.
What’s that smell?
— September 18, 2024
How good is your sense of smell? How good is your child’s? Find out in this fun game of What’s that smell? The free printable scent cards can be found at the bottom of the page. They feature common household items, such as lemon, cinnamon, coffee, cloves, peppermint, lavender, and more.
What’s that smell? Is one lesson in a week of lessons that focus around the five senses, Nn is for Nose. Nn is for Nose is one week in a 26 week curriculum, Letter of the Week. It has been reimagined for all that home learning has to offer. Play based learning activities, curated book suggestions, coloring pages, free printables and so much more are available. Best of all, it’s all free!
Be sure to check out Letter of the Week at the button below.
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Why is the sense of smell so important?
When was the last time you were out, maybe at someone’s house, a park, or maybe a store and a scent hit you that made you pause? You can feel your memory cogs turning, wondering why that smell is familiar. Then you get another whiff of it and suddenly you’re a little kid again riding home in your booster seat, admiring the new, pretty bead bracelet on your wrist that you just won at a school carnival.
You feel pride and happiness well up inside you. Now you are curious where that smell is coming from? You realize that the plastic toy your son is playing with on the store floor smells exactly like that cheap bracelet you were so proud to have won.
Sense of smell.
Of the five senses, sense of smell is severely underrated. However, smell is stored with emotions in the brain. If you smell that same scent years later, your brain can recall the emotions and events that were taking place. The story I just described happened while my 2 year old son and I were shopping at a second hand children’s store. For the life of me I never would have remembered that car ride or that bracelet, especially in such vivid detail.
How cool is that? Most of my memories are stored and recalled based on scent and I’m curious how many of yours are too? Let me know in the comments down below or jump over to Instagram and send me a DM. I would love to hear other stories like this. To find me on Instagram use the link below.
How to teach your 3-5 year old about their sense of smell.
Materials needed to play What’s that smell?
Small containers that are not see through. We had these snack cups on hand and I love them for everyday use, as well as this activity. However, you can make other containers work that aren’t see through by adding parchment paper on top with a rubber band and cutting a hole. A few lids were missing the day we did this activity so we improvised. You can too!
When assembling the scents in your house consider tea bags, spices, and essential oils for certain items. And be sure to chop the onion to release the most scent. Also, depending on the age of your child and the number items you have access to, will determine how many scents you use.
Disclaimer
Be sure to teach your child how to properly sniff items. Especially powdered ingredients. My son has inhaled too hard and gotten cinnamon up his nose before. My youngest, 2 years old, wanted to participate and I was allowing him to. When it was his turn he thought I was asking him to blow his nose and the sage went everywhere.
I recommend demonstrating by having your child feel the air from their nostrils on their hand when they exhale. Compare that to an inhale and you should not feel any air on your skin. Show the rising and falling of the chest if needed.
Lastly, discuss how hard they should inhale. They do not want cinnamon powder shooting up their nose. Teary eyes and cleaning out reddish-brown snot follows.
Activity set up
What’s that smell? Takes a little extra time to set up because the items need to be gathered and placed in individual containers. While you are doing this you can have your child color a coloring page from Nn is for Nose.
Do not put away containers, keep that coffee can out and lemon juice bottle because you are going to need them. Next place the printed cards in a pile near the original containers.
Test your child’s sense of smell!
Smell the various scents.
Once the lids are on and the contents are not visible, bring your child to the table. First the item smells need to be introduced. Take a minute to have your child and yourself sniff each item individually from its original container. As they smell each scent, show them the corresponding card and have them repeat the scent name after you. Once done you can sniff coffee beans to cleanse your olfactory system or step outside to smell the fresh air.
Next you are going to place the cards in a row. Have your child sniff a scent in a concealed container and determine which card it belongs to. Take a whiff yourself and determine what you think but let your child lead.
Compare the scents
After all the cards have been matched with a scent you can now compare the scent from the original container to the answer they gave in the concealed container. If they guessed incorrectly you can place them away from the card and leave that slot empty. Continue down the line until they have checked their own work.
Help your child with any new guesses or if they want to play again you can reset the cards and containers. Also, remember if your nose is becoming fatigued be sure to step outside for some fresh air or re-sniff those coffee beans.
Homeschooling with multiple children.
If you have an older child, encourage them to collaborate together to solve the matching of scents with cards. My boys, ages 3 and 5 did really well working together with me as a moderator. Even though my 5 year old, Marty, may have known that Mick, 3 year old, was wrong in a guess he learned to let Mick have his way. Later he would be able to gently and humbly assist when asked for help.
At the beginning Mick wanted to be very independent. By the end of the activity though he was asking Marty what he thought of a scent, “yuck -coffee! What you think Marty?”
Creative activities for 3-5 year old’s at home.
A fun game of matching and testing an underrated sense leaves our children excited about their sense of smell and all that it can do. In the days, weeks, and months to come, invite your child to use their sense of smell more strategically in the kitchen. If my kiddos are underfoot in the kitchen, and they usually are, I will ask if they want to smell a certain spice or herb I just used in a recipe. They take a sniff and we name it before I put it away.
If you do this be sure your children understand how to sniff and not blow out their nose. Or worse, to take too deep an inhale of a powdered spice or herb.
If you enjoyed this activity then check out Nn is for Nose. A week of lessons teaching your child about the 5 senses. Nn is for Nose is a part of a 26 week curriculum, Letter of the Week. Every letter is themed for exciting learning opportunities that explore science, math, nature, art and so much more. Simply click the button below.
Sense of Smell Game
Activity Instructions
Materials needed
- Included printable
- Spices
- Herbs
- Little containers with lids (that are not clear)
- *Essential oils
Instructions
- If you want this activity to last you can print on cardstock or even on regular paper but then laminate it. This isn’t necessary though!
- Assemble the various items you will use for smelling and matching. Keep in mind a lot of these can be found in the spice cupboard, fridge, pantry, teas, etc. You may need to steep the tea bag or cut the onion to release the best scent.
- Place the items in their individual containers and place the lids on top. This will help keep the smells stronger for when you remove the lids.
- While the scents are releasing into the container I recommend printing the printable on cardstock.
- Cut out the pictures.
- I like to begin by setting up all the pictures with their corresponding item.
- Bring your child to the table and show them the different pictures. Have them review what the picture has on them and explain that the items they’re about to smell are on these pictures.
- They will begin by smelling what each item is, cinnamon, onion, etc.
- You should help your child sniff each container, barely lift the lid under their nose so that they do not see what is inside but so that they get a whiff of the item inside.
- Once you’ve reviewed every item now is the time to shuffle the cards and containers.
- Now it’s a matching game. How good is their memory?
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