We talk quite a lot about the whole learning experience here at the Co-op. We stress to everyone that we are NOT a daycare or babysitting service but a developmental learning center. We will actually teach and learn using all five of our senses, (even if to the untrained eye, it appears as though we are having fun) in learning/exploring the world around us.
Aaron writes his name in the shaving cream.
We incorporate this idea of using all the senses (refresher: touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight) into our curriculum and our day-to-day activities. We believe so strongly in reenforcing utilization of our whole bodies to learn, that we even devoted a whole month to the senses. February is usually all about love and hearts. We talked about that in the traditional way,sure, but also in a more un-conventional way. We smelled sweet candy smells but we also smelled funky ones like vinegar and wet dirt and compared the two. We guessed what our lunch was each day by using different senses and learned that our eyes aren’t always the best judge of greencolored milk. We learned what happens when you mix pebbles in with oil, lotion, and shaving cream. We saw what happened when you added blue and yellow paint to that same shaving cream mess! (I tried to get them to taste it to see if it was like the green milk, but my smarty pants kids weren’t having it. ) We tasted king cake with our eyes closed, we licked that paint and found out it is yucky but fun, and we played sound bingo. (No one knew what the picture was of the old fashioned phone, by the way…so funny when they didn’t believe me.)
Hearing
Sight
We had a ball. We learned so much about our worlds and each other. So next time you think about those early years and if you are doing the right thing with your kids, just plop a whole bunch of textured stuff in a bag and get your kid to guess/feel it with their eyes closed. Use all your senses at dinner with each other. Taste the playdough. Go on…
- Smell
