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by Latrenda Knighten
Topics: Kindergarten, Science
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Children intuitively use their five senses (sight, smell, touch, sound, and taste) to learn about the world around them.   In kindergarten, the senses are also an early science topic.   Exploring the senses in a scientific way allows children to begin building lifetime skills in making observations and drawing conclusions.  With this experiment, your child will give her nose a workout by using her sense of smell to examine objects and find the matching scents. 

What You Need:

  • Small airtight containers (Film canisters are great if available; however, small Tupperware containers, envelopes or small boxes work well also.)
  • Cotton balls
  • Various fragrances such as perfume or cologne, vanilla flavoring, lemon juice, baby powder, cinnamon, onion powder, & almond flavoring. BE CREATIVE!
  • Pencil and blank paper

What to Do:

  1. Prepare for this experiment ahead of time by selecting 4 – 5 scents, and gathering two containers for each scent.  For example, if you select five scents, you will need ten containers, numbered 1-10.  Now soak two cotton balls for each scent, and place each cotton ball in a separate container.
  2. Allow your child to sniff the contents of one container.
  3. Tell her that each container has a matching "scent twin" and her job is to use her sense of smell to match the scents.
  4. Label the blank paper with the heading: “Matching Pairs”.
  5. For each scent, have your child try to find the container that contains the matching scent.  Remind your child to take a big whiff as she sniffs each container.
  6. Allow your child to record her findings on the recording sheet by writing down which containers are matching twins.  Can she find the matches for all of the scents?  For an added challenge, see if she can identify each scent.
  7. Discuss the results of the experiment with your child.  How could she tell which scent matched with another?  Which scents were most similar, and were which most different?
  8. Once your child has explored all these scents, have some fun with another “test subject” such as a relative or friend.  Which scents are the hardest to pin down?  Who’s got an especially “knowing” nose?