The Five Senses: Sense of Taste

Mr. Broom may look rude sticking out his tongue, but he is just showing you that now he can taste!

I ask the children what parts of the mouth we use to taste.  Do we use our lips? teeth? tongue? We talk about the taste buds and the fact that different places on the tongue are used to taste different things. I have the children stick out their tongues and turn to a friend.  They LOVE this. We examine taste buds for a minute. Then, I use this diagram to explain which taste buds work best for which tastes.

This year we read Maria Ruiz's book The Five Senses- Taste  to introduce this sense.

I like to read Bread and Jam for Frances, because it is great for discussing how important it is to try different foods and how only eating the same food gets dull.  New foods are fun!  (I have a picky little group this year!:) 

 

Next, we sit in a circle and get ready for our tasting party. My children are very good at waiting for everyone to have food before eating (because we practice it every day at snack!) but it is extra important for our tasting party, so we can experience the tastes together. 

 

I start with a pretzel for salty.  Then we get ready for our "Pucker Party." The children can explore their lemon with their other senses- feel it,  look at it, smell it, and PREPARE TO PUCKER!

I love these pictures. :)

There are always one or two who enjoy eating the entire lemon slice with a smile, which is very impressive to the others!

 

Then we move on to our M&M for sweet.   

I usually don't do "bitter."  Unsweetened chocolate would be a good choice.  I usually tell them that the medicine they take when they are sick is a good example of bitter. 

 

I have seen the idea of having the children use pop sickle sticks to try tasting salt water, sugar water, and vinegar.  I have never tried this, though.  It is neat because they all would look the same- maybe next year! 

 

I had the children go back to their seats and gave each child a black strip of paper.  On it, I put a pinch of salt on one side and sugar on the other.

They could examine it with magnifying glasses, smell it, touch it, but could not taste it, and had to guess which was which.  It was tricky. 

They soon saw how easy it was to tell the difference with the sense of taste!

We drew and labeled our five favorite things to taste, and watched some of the Sense of Taste videos on The Five Senses Prezi.

Another fun day with Mr. Broom!

Thank you for visiting!
Happy Teaching,
Carolyn