Happy day five of our 5 senses week! Today is all about the sense of hearing. If you missed the other days you can find them here:
I love to start out the morning with a book, and for this lesson, I chose “I Hear a Pickle” by Rachel Isadora. You can find all my favorite books for the 5 Senses unit in my Amazon Storefront here.
Instrument Making
The first activity I set up for my little learners is creating their own instruments at the music-making station. This is a must if you are doing a 5 senses unit.
This is the time to pull out your paper towel/toilet paper roll stash (preschool teachers- I know you have one). Kids will be creating their own instruments by filling them and sealing up the ends with cupcake liners and tape.
Some of the items I used were dry pasta, crayons, cereal, and buttons. In the 5 Senses Weekly Curriculum, you will also find printable item labels that you can use for more ideas.
I set out all of the materials in a sorting tray, so students could easily see and choose their items. Watching them use their imagination and create their instruments is only the start of the fun. Once the instruments are made, we shook them to find out what sounds they would make.
After shaking their instruments, kids decide if the sound is loud or quiet and place the label in the correct spot under "loud" or "quiet". This activity was SO FUN! The littles were so engaged we ended up making a lot more instruments than I had planned.
All About Oranges
The second center of the day and the last one for our 5 Senses week is a fun deep dive into oranges! To prepare for the day, I made sure to stock up on oranges on my grocery store run. Then the day of, I set up the display cards and put the oranges out for students to explore.
First, I let the students experiment with the oranges on their own while I just observe (and make sure no oranges are going flying toward little heads). Once they have all had a chance to play with an orange, we pull out the prompt cards from the lesson plans.
Each card will guide the littles through learning about oranges using each of the 5 senses we have learned this week. This is a great way to revisit all of the senses and open up discussions about other activities we did throughout the week! You can find all the lesson plans and printables for teaching the 5 senses in your classroom in my weekly curriculum.
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