Sorry, no photos this time. It was all Nathalie and I could do to keep the herd contained, today.
We did a lot of fun stuff, though! First up was some hands-on exploration of that tactile wonderland - cornstarch goop. Jarrod took an especial liking to the stuff, enjoying the feel of it on his fingers. After we cleaned up the goop, we had a short discussion about our five senses. We talked about what our eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin do to help us perceive the world around us. Alexander quickly demonstrated proof of concept by pulling his own hat down over his eyes, successfully obscuring his own vision. Hehe.
We started our journey through the senses with an activity centered around each. For Sight, we went on a rainbow hunt, seeking out the colored pieces of paper all around the room. ("Everybody put your hand on a red square! Now put your foot on an orange one. Pick up a yellow and put it on your head. Put your elbow on a green square. Find a blue one and sit down on it!")
We moved on to Taste next. Everyone had a paper plate separated into 3 numbered sections, and each section held a tiny pinch of mystery powder. We practiced our numbers, tasting in order #1 (Salt), #2 (lemonade mix), and #3 (sugar), while talking about the difference between saltiness, sourness and sweetness. In an informal poll, Salt was the surprising favorite of most of the kids. Go figure!
After snack - actual snack, I mean, not just the stuff from the previous activity - we were nose detectives, using our sense of Smell to identify things hidden inside plastic film canisters. Leftover banana and clementine oranges, from snack, were easily identified, along with peanut butter. Cumin, garlic and vinegar were a little trickier.
We took a book break and then moved on to Touch. There were cardboard pieces with different textures on them, so we talked about things that are soft, rough, bumpy, smooth, crinkly, etc. Arwen did a great job collecting together similar textures, putting all the bumpy ones in one pile and all the fluffy/soft ones in another.
For our craft activity, the kids made cinnamon-scented sandpaper gingerbread men. They got to stick on googly eyes (in some cases many more than the standard 2 each), then decorated them with crayons and "drew" on them with cinnamon sticks. Of course, I completely forgot to send them home with everyone, so they will be sitting on the shelf for you to collect when you're back here on Monday!
Lunch of "rainbow mac & cheese" was next. Red sun-dried tomatoes, orange bell pepper, yellow corn and green peas represented most of the color spectrum (sorry, no blueberries or purple grapes...hehe).
Our final sensory activity was to Listen and identify animal sounds on the computer. Ian and Sophie both did a really good job figuring out the different noises.
Everyone was a little amped up from the word "Go" today, but I think they still had a good time with the activities. I'll definitely be revisiting this lesson after the New Year!
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