Sensory games: activities on the sense of taste to do with children
Sensory games are the most suitable for exploring the world through the five senses. In fact, they aim to refine children’s perceptual skills.
Among all the activities that can be proposed to children, sensory games (basic according to Montessori pedagogy) are the most suitable for exploring the world through the five senses. In fact, they aim to refine children’s perceptual skills and give them the necessary tools to express sensations, emotions and to face the world around them independently.
For this reason, in the past I have gladly shared many sensory activities for children and I have recently also dealt with sensory games to stimulate sight. Wanting to continue this journey to discover games that involve the five senses, today I want to offer you some interesting activities that involve the sense of taste.
Activities on the sense of taste
Playing games and experiments based on the sense of taste helps children to learn more about not only a part of their body, but also to discover and recognize different flavors or to grasp the nuances of similar flavors.
Games on the sense of taste are those that involve food tasting tests. In general, food is proposed on a tray or in jars and children are invited to taste them. The tasting order can be random or according to an established criterion. You can still do activities and experiments on taste even while we are in the kitchen. Just ask the children to “help” us while preparing a dessert or snack (usually it is something that amuses them) to encourage them to discover new smells and flavors.
Taste and discover the 4 main flavors
One of the most common taste games is to discover the 4 main flavours : sweet, bitter, salty and sour . Just prepare small bowls with salt, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, milk, bitter cocoa powder, coffee powder and invite them to do small tastings. The adult’s task will have to be to explain the differences and get them used to different tastes that children usually avoid.
Taste and guess
Another game to play with taste is to prepare trays or glasses with different foods or drinks, blindfold children and let them taste the contents. They will have to try to understand what it is.
Sensory tasting bottles Montessori style
For those interested in proposing the game with Montessorian style material, here is a series of 6 anonymous dark bottles without any label. They are perfect for attracting children’s attention and stimulating them to experience the taste of the foods contained. Inside you can put milk, water, juice, oil, vinegar, coffee and more, and present them to children in random order. Being all the same, with stained glass and without any sign of recognition, it is not necessary to close the eyes of children. To guess the food, they will have to rely only on their senses, taste and smell, the latter “coadjutor of taste in the act of feeding” (Montessori).
What does it taste like?
Once the children have become familiar with the four main flavors, to make all these small experiments even more fun and informative, you can propose to the children to guess the type of flavor of the various foods offered. You can also create educational cards where you can mark the answers for each food. Is it sweet or bitter? is it salty or sour? How is its color? Its taste? Its smell/scent? Its consistency? It will be fun to check the answers.
Gustatory comparison
Another type of game to play (particularly suitable for older children) is that of comparing the tastes of the same type of food or ingredient. Just choose two or more flavors of the same food (for example different flavors of ice cream or foods based on the same ingredient) put them on cups with labels A, B, C. After tasting the foods, write down what the child thinks and what were his reactions. Also write down the flavor and note the differences between the various foods. Check your answers.
Children’s books about taste and the five senses
To learn more about taste and the 5 senses, you can read some children’s books such as:
- Taste and smell,
- Marilù and the 5 senses,
- With the mouth,
- The five senses play hide and seek,
- Maria Montessori the discovery of the child
Obviously the activities to do on the sense of taste are not limited to those that I have briefly listed. You can deepen the topic by searching on the web, on books or coming back here to read the next posts on Games involving sight, smell, touch, hearing.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.