Scent Bottles
Smell and taste is very acute for a young child. This exercise helps
develop the sense of smell. You can make these scent bottles very
easily.
Materials:
12 to 16 similar plastic or glass containers with
lids (old baby food jars, spice jars, medicine bottles, or old metal
bandage boxes are great for this)
cotton wool or cotton balls
6 Scents such as potpourri of flower petals, spices ( cloves, cinnamon,
etc.), liquid flavoring such as vanilla, almond, peppermint, lemon, eau
de cologne, perfume etc. Use any non-toxic flavor you have in the
house.
Vegetable oil
Muslin materials for dry scents
How to make the scent bottles:
Put about a teaspoon of oil on
a small piece of cotton, add the scent and cover with cotton. Put the
scented cotton in the jar and seal. Do a second identical jar of scent.
Continue until you have 2 pairs of each sent. (If you are using just
potpourri make sure the jars are covered with contact paper so you
child can’t see the differences visually between the spices. If you
don’t wish to cover the jars, dry scents can be put into small sewn
muslin bags) Sometimes potpourri can be purchased in packages that can
not be distinguished by sight. Just make sure that all the bottles
look the same since your child is going to distinguish the pairs by
smell only. Store the bottles in a small box or container.
Presentation: Take two or more pairs of scented bottles. Remove
the tops and mix the containers. Smell the bottles and then show the
child how to pair by smell. Put the pairs side by side with the tops
on. Add more pairs as your child becomes more proficient.
Control of Error: The last pair of scent won’t smell the same.
You can expand this lesson by planting an herb garden with your child. Aromatic herbs such as rosemary, lavender, basil, thyme are a great opportunity for exercising the sense of smell. Also, the herbs can be used to make potpourri or used in cooking lessons.