To play, designate one child as the finder and the other child as the hider. Instruct the hider to hide in the room. The child that is hiding will make a noise, such as clapping, whistling or stomping his feet, to give the finder clues as to where the child is. Once the hidden child is found, the children can switch places.
Take finger paint in a variety of colors and texturize the paint by adding natural items, such as corn meal, coffee grounds, salt or sand. Have the child wear a large T-shirt to avoid staining her clothes. Allow the child to paint a picture using her hands. While she is painting, discuss the sense of touch.
Gather several strong-smelling items, such as onions, peanut butter, coffee grounds, vanilla extract, cinnamon, peppermints and perfume. Do not allow the child to see the items. Begin the activity by discussing the sense of smell. Ask the child to close his eyes and wave one of the items under his nose. Put the item away, ask the child what he smelled and revel the item. Continue this activity with all of the scents.
Create cardboard binoculars by taking two empty rolls of toilet paper and gluing the rolls together. Instruct the child to use her binoculars, either outside or inside of the building. Have the child describe what she can see through her binoculars. Expand the activity by asking her to find certain items that begin with a certain letter, such as a tree or table for the letter “T.”
Gather items that represent the four major tastes, such as lemon for sour, sugar for sweet, unsweetened chocolate for bitter and potato chips for salty. Discuss the sense of taste with the child by explaining the different types of tastes and showing him the location of the taste buds. Next, allow the child to taste the food items and ask him to describe how the items taste. Discuss what tastes the child enjoys, such as sweet, and what tastes he does not enjoy, such as bitter.