My five senses
Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching: what each sense tells us and how our senses work together. With a mystery feely bag.
Read
Your senses tell you about the world. You see with your eyes, hear with your ears, smell with your nose, taste with your mouth and feel with your skin.[1][5][2]
Light goes into your eyes. Your eyes send messages to your brain, and your brain makes the pictures you see.[5]
Your mouth has tiny taste buds. They can taste sweet, sour, salty, bitter and a savoury taste called umami.[2]
Your nose smells things in the air, like coffee or pine trees. Smell can also warn you about danger, like smoke or food that has gone bad.[3]
Your nose helps you taste too! When your nose is blocked by a cold, food tastes less.[3][2]
Your skin feels touch, warm and cold. Your fingertips are extra good at feeling, because they have lots of tiny touch sensors.[1][4]
Try it: The mystery feely bag
You need
- A cloth bag or a pillowcase
- Safe objects with different feels: a sponge, a pine cone, a smooth stone, a woolly sock, a wooden spoon, a plastic cup
- A results table and a pencil
Safety
Only safe objects: nothing sharp, nothing hot, nothing small enough to swallow, no food and nothing that is alive. Wash hands afterwards.
What to do
- The teacher puts one object in the bag without anyone looking.
- Put one hand in the bag. No peeking!
- Feel it: is it soft or hard? Smooth or bumpy? Warm or cold?
- Say three words about how it feels, then guess what it is.
- Take it out and look. Were you right? Now it is the next person's turn.
Play: Which sense?
Read each card. Which sense do you use most to notice it?
Your best score is kept only on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Quiz
Other ages: Ages 10–11 · Ages 15–16