Welcome everyone by name.
Practice the Hand Raising game. Children at this age need to practice hand raising without calling out. We usually start each lesson with a small snack and we practice raising our hands to respond to questions without calling out. We will make statements like, “Raise your hand if you like graham crackers,” or “Raise your hand if you are wearing red today.” We emphasize that they can answer the question not with calling out, but by raising their hands.
Ask the children to recall what parts of the body they have learned about so far: eyes, ears, hands etc. Tell them we will learn about two more parts of the body today and they need to guess what those are. Give them hints: You can’t see this part of my body if I am not speaking. It is pink and has little bumps on it. I can move it around and it helps me to taste food. (Tongue). I have only one of these and I can’t see it very well unless I look in a mirror. It is on my face. It has two holes in it. I can breath and smell with it. (Nose). Explain that our tongue and nose help us to smell and taste.
Have several containers with strong smelling things in each. If the item is easily identifiable by sight, be sure the container is covered so the item can’t be seen. Ask the children to smell each one and try to guess what it is. Suggestions: Cinnamon stick, dab of toothpaste, lemon slice, pineapple, bacon bits, garlic, eggs, popcorn, peanut butter etc. (Be sure to check for allergies in your children first). You can have pictures of each item spread across the table and have the children discuss and agree where each container should go to match the picture. Explain how our noses are very sensitive to smell and we can smell wonderful things like flowers (it would be great if you could have a nice smelling flower for them to smell) and nasty smells too.
Have something with a strong flavor, like a potato chip, for the children to eat. Before they eat it, ask them to pinch their noses shut. Tell them to eat the potato chip (or apple, or orange slice) with their noses plugged. Then have them taste it again without plugging their noses. Ask if they noticed a difference. They should notice that they can taste much more flavor without their noses plugged. Explain that our noses help us breath, help us smell, but also help us to taste food better. Be sure to talk to the children about never putting anything up their noses because they might injure themselves.
There is a good video on Youtube about how the nose works. This would be a good time to show that.
Bring mirrors (used in lesson on eyes) for the children to look at their tongues. Point out the tiny bumps on their tongues that help them discern taste. Explain that there are four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter. (The fifth is umami, or savory, which is too complex for these young children to understand. Also, the “tongue map” showing where on the tongue different taste sensors reside has been discredited. I do not use that since it is old information now proven false).
Have several samples of each of the four tastes for the children to taste. As they taste, ask them to decide which flavor it is. Some suggestions are: sugar, salt, lemons, rhubarb. Explain how Heavenly Father created us to be able to enjoy so many foods with different tastes, but also to be warned when we put something in our mouth that we shouldn’t. Discuss with the children that sometimes we would like to just eat sweet things, but that would not be healthy for us. You might give the children some baby carrots, or grapes, talk about the taste and texture, and about how fruits and vegetables taste good and are healthy for us.
There are some good videos on Youtube about how the tongue works.
Use the So Hungry picture story to read to the children and have them try to help you read the story using the pictures. Ask them if they have ever made a fruit salad, or to talk about their favorite foods.
Remind the children they have now learned about touch, sight, smell and taste. Create an activity for them to do that incorporates all these senses. There are some very inexpensive, ready-made crafts found at orientaltrading.com, but you can create something similar using cut out pictures from a magazine and poster paper. You could make one large poster with a different colored area and symbol for each sense, and then have the children sort through lots of cut out pictures from magazine to put in each area. (The ready-made craft contains 12 sticker sets for $5).
Conclude with a story about the senses like Bear’s Busy Family.
LDS Lessons in a Box 