To give kids an experience with the sense of touch, place several objects inside large socks. Place one item in each sock. Ask students to feel the socks and make a prediction about what object is inside each one. Have them draw the object they feel on a sheet of paper. Discuss how they made their guess, pointing out that they are using their sense of touch. After students have felt the socks and guessed what is inside, take the objects out to check their predictions.
Provide each student with a magnifying glass and take them on a nature walk outside to give them practice using their sense of sight. Encourage them to take an up-close look at everyday objects found outside, such as rocks, sand, leaves or grass. Have them draw the things they saw with their magnifying glass. Discuss how things look different with and without magnification. Point out all the ways they use their sense of sight as they explore.
Help your students use their sense of hearing to play a matching sounds game. Fill pairs of small containers, such as film canisters or empty prescription bottles, with small objects such as sand, rice, coins and buttons. Cover the outside of the containers with paper and secure the lids so that students cannot see inside them. Set out all of the containers and encourage students to shake them and listen to the sounds they make. Have them find the containers that contain the same items by listening to the sound each makes.
Show students how to use their sense of smell by placing different scented objects inside opaque containers. Punch small holes in the lids of the containers so students can smell them and try to identify the scent. Have them sniff through the lid and draw what they think is inside each one. To make it a matching game, make two containers for each scent and ask students to find the containers that have the same scents. You also could ask students to categorize the scents into good-smelling and bad-smelling scents.
Students can use their sense of taste to identify different foods. Find pairs of foods that look similar but taste different, such as salt and sugar, or a chopped yellow apple and a chopped pear. Provide students with the two foods and ask them to taste each one to identify it. Ask students to describe each food's taste. Discuss how their sense of taste was the only way to distinguish between the foods since they look the same.