Activities 0-3 years

Discovering the five senses

The purpose of this page is to help children in the acquisition of perceptive abilities and in the expression of emotions and sensations, giving you suggestions on how to stimulate these abilities, fundamental for their development and the formation of their personality.

Activities to do together

Load more

Useful advices and curiosities about the 5 senses

What are the 5 senses?

Touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell. Let's learn about them.

The sense of touch

The sense of touch develops as the child grows: from touching his mother when he is very small to touching toys later and all the things that surround him, leading him to discover various sensations: smooth, rough, soft, hard, hot, cold. Some examples of proposed activities: Manipulation with various food products Manipulation with homemade didò salt dough Manipulation with yellow flour Through these activities, children will be able to experience sensations such as: the pleasure of crushing, squeezing, spreading, tasting, modifying and getting to know the material by discovering its expressive potential.

The sense of sight

Sight, with touch, is one of the most developed senses in children. Already at the age of two and three years, is perfected considerably, becomes richer in detail, allows in many cases the full distinction of colors. However, the visual attention is still very limited, so we stimulate a lot of observation of the shapes of objects, animals, people. We encourage, through the painting laboratory, the knowledge of color nuances, the origin of secondary colors, we will touch the colors to understand what feeling spreads the red, blue, yellow and if there is a difference between seeing and touching them.

The hearing

Hearing is one of the most precious senses for a child; through sound he develops the characteristics of language and communication. Over the years, hearing becomes more and more refined and becomes the instrument capable of distinguishing noises from sounds, a distant voice from a nearby one. For this reason we have chosen to stimulate this sense, through didactic games and frequent stimulations that allow the child to increasingly improve his perceptive abilities.

Taste

Through taste, the child carries out his most particular and subjective cognitive experiences, because it is only by tasting something that he can really know and distinguish the 4 different tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter...etc.Through manipulation, the child experiences the qualities of certain foods until he or she wants to bring them to the mouth and then taste them spontaneously.

The sense of smell

The sense of smell is the sense which accompanies a good part of the life of a new born baby, in fact, the sense of smell begins to develop in the mother's belly but it is by growing up that the child will perfect this capacity in a progressive way; this is why already at the age of three and four years old the child is able to distinguish smells, to understand if they are new, pleasant, unpleasant etc.In this area will be privileged the discovery of many types of smells: the most familiar and known ones (bread, pizza, fruit) or those of nature (flowers, leaves, trees, grass, etc..) (https://www.lacasettadeipulcini.it/progetto-educativo/i-5-sensi/)

What are
the 5 senses?

Touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell. Let's learn about them.

The sense of touch

The sense of touch develops as the child grows: from touching his mother when he is very small to touching toys later and all the things that surround him, leading him to discover various sensations: smooth, rough, soft, hard, hot, cold. Some examples of proposed activities: Manipulation with various food products Manipulation with homemade didò salt dough Manipulation with yellow flour Through these activities, children will be able to experience sensations such as: the pleasure of crushing, squeezing, spreading, tasting, modifying and getting to know the material by discovering its expressive potential.

The sense of sight

Sight, with touch, is one of the most developed senses in children. Already at the age of two and three years, is perfected considerably, becomes richer in detail, allows in many cases the full distinction of colors.
 However, the visual attention is still very limited, so we stimulate a lot of observation of the shapes of objects, animals, people. We encourage, through the painting laboratory, the knowledge of color nuances, the origin of secondary colors, we will touch the colors to understand what feeling spreads the red, blue, yellow and if there is a difference between seeing and touching them.

The hearing

Hearing is one of the most precious senses for a child; through sound he develops the characteristics of language and communication. Over the years, hearing becomes more and more refined and becomes the instrument capable of distinguishing noises from sounds, a distant voice from a nearby one. For this reason we have chosen to stimulate this sense, through didactic games and frequent stimulations that allow the child to increasingly improve his perceptive abilities.

Taste

Through taste, the child carries out his most particular and subjective cognitive experiences, because it is only by tasting something that he can really know and distinguish the 4 different tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter...etc.Through manipulation, the child experiences the qualities of certain foods until he or she wants to bring them to the mouth and then taste them spontaneously.

The sense of smell

The sense of smell is the sense which accompanies a good part of the life of a new born baby, in fact, the sense of smell begins to develop in the mother's belly but it is by growing up that the child will perfect this capacity in a progressive way; this is why already at the age of three and four years old the child is able to distinguish smells, to understand if they are new, pleasant, unpleasant etc.In this area will be privileged the discovery of many types of smells: the most familiar and known ones (bread, pizza, fruit) or those of nature (flowers, leaves, trees, grass, etc..) (https://www.lacasettadeipulcini.it/progetto-educativo/i-5-sensi/)

Why are the 5 senses important?

The sensory experiences made by children are fundamental to their psychophysical development and to the formation of their personality.

N. 1

The child, in this period of his life, relates with others and with the environment through his whole body, he is in constant contact with a reality characterized by various stimuli: tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory, taste.

N. 2

Since the first months of life, the child is able to distinguish internal stimuli (those coming from his body) from external ones: while internal ones are used to learn to know himself and to form his self-image, those coming from the external world favour the exploration of the surrounding environment and the recognition of the main characteristics of objects. All the information received is then recorded in memory, so that it can be recognized later, transforming it into an experience that can be used by the child.

Why are the 5 senses important?

The sensory experiences made by children are fundamental to their psychophysical development and to the formation of their personality.

N. 1

The child, in this period of his life, relates with others and with the environment through his whole body, he is in constant contact with a reality characterized by various stimuli: tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory, taste.

N. 2

Since the first months of life, the child is able to distinguish internal stimuli (those coming from his body) from external ones: while internal ones are used to learn to know himself and to form his self-image, those coming from the external world favour the exploration of the surrounding environment and the recognition of the main characteristics of objects. All the information received is then recorded in memory, so that it can be recognized later, transforming it into an experience that can be used by the child.