Kindergarten Explores the Five Senses

The kindergarten classes have begun the school year looking at some very important tools- our five senses! The students are discovering the many ways that we use our sense of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell to make decisions about how to interact with and learn from the world around us. Hands-on activities as well as fiction and non-fiction books are helping to guide the students to a deeper understanding of how the five senses work alone and together with our brain. The five senses are vital as they help us to make many choices such as what clothing to wear, what to do in a situation, and how to connect with the surrounding environment.

      
The children were excited to put those senses to work on our first kindergarten field trip of the year to the Schuylkill Environmental Education Center (SCEE) in Philadelphia. After an exciting school bus ride, a first for many, the students moved into small groups and were guided by environmental educators on a nature sense walk. The beautiful autumn day gave the students an opportunity to make a myriad of observations and connections using the senses of sight, touch, smell and hearing.

Children are intrinsically drawn to nature and their heightened curiosity led to thoughtful questions and careful observations as we explored the nature center grounds. The pond, meadow and woodland habitats were filled with creatures to see, hear and even touch. The sense of smell seemed to be the strongest at the mucky pond. We did save the sense of taste for our pretzel snack and lunch!

 

Our first field trip was a perfect opportunity to use creative artistic skills and developing kid writing to make visible each child's understanding of the senses. The children drew pictures to illustrate what they heard, smelled, saw and touched on this adventure. During kid writing, the students then took their ideas and stretched out each word, printing the sounds that they heard. This gives each budding writer the opportunity to write freely and without worry about getting it "right" or "correct."

                   

 If you would like more information about SCEE and some wonderful opportunities to explore the beautiful outdoors with your family, click on the link:   http://www.schuylkillcenter.org/