Over the past year, we’ve been writing about all of the different sensory systems. We’ve written about sensory processing, what it means, why it’s such an important part of child development, and how you can promote healthy development of the sensory systems in your child.
Up next is the sense of smell – or the olfactory system! Today, we’ve rounded up 20 great activities for kids that will put those little sniffers right to work!
Scented Doughs
1 – Rainbow Scented Cloud Dough from Lemon Lime Adventures
2 – Scented Cloud Dough from Learn Play Imagine
3 – Natural Lavender Playdough from An Everyday Story
4 – Homemade Herb and Spice Play Dough from Craftulate
5 – No Cook Apple Play Dough from The Imagination Tree
Scented Sensory Bins
6 – Sensory Play with Whole Spices and Beans from My Nearest and Dearest
7 – Pumpkin Scented Rice Sensory Bin from The Connection We Share for Hands on : as we grow
8 – Cinnamon Maple Salt Tray from My Nearest and Dearest
9 – Summer Lemon Scented Rice Sensory Bin from Little Bins for Little Hands
10 – Scented Water Sensory Bin for Spring from Fun-A-Day
Smelling Bottles
11 – DIY Sensory Smelling Bottles from Carrots are Orange
12 – Smelling Sensory Bottles from Things to Share & Remember
13 – Sense of smell: Fun with smelling bottles from Gift of Curiosity
14 – DIY Smelling Bottles from Counting Coconuts
15 – Educating the Senses: Smelling Bottles from Playful Learning
Other Olfactory Fun
16 – Scratch-N-Sniff Watercolor Paint from Learn Create Love
17 – Sensory Cooking from Meaningful Mama
18 – Scented Ice Lab from Lemon Lime Adventures
19 – Scented Chalk Paint from Munchkin and Bean
20 – Sense of smell Mr. Sketch marker work! from Montessori Design
So what are you waiting for? Round up the kids and start exploring the sense of smell! Be sure to sign up to receive our newsletter, a weekly roundup of our favorite posts delivered right to your inbox! Simply enter your email address in the box in the sidebar and click “Subscribe”!
Latest posts by Claire Heffron (see all)
- Groundhog Day Activities: Groundhog Obstacle Course - January 26, 2023
- Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids: Hearts & Arrows Visual Game - January 24, 2023
- Snowman Activity for Kids: Snowman Charades - January 22, 2023
im just signing up for your mailing list. thanks
Hi Claire,
Thank you for posting new ways to explore the olfactory sense – I feel it is one that is often neglected. I am an OT who works with medically complex children, all who also have a visual diagnosis. I am looking to ways to incorporate the use of smell to help either elevate, or calm some children. Because it is so closely related to the limbic system, I am a little hesitant to move forward with these strategies because I don’t want any negative associations to be made with an activity (obviously that would never be my intention, but you never know how a child might react to something – especially those who are so medically fragile), nor would I ever use at the same time as feeding therapy. Anyhow, I was wondering if you’ve had any success incorporating the use of a lavender for example, while linearly swinging to produce a calming effect, or citrus in conjunction with an alerting activity to produce an alerting response in those who might be hypo-responsive? Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated – It can be somewhat difficult to find strong evidence based research to help support some sensory strategies and would truly appreciate your professional opinion. Thank you so much for your time! I hope to hear from you!
Cortney
PS – I have no idea why this site will only post capitals – I am not “shouting,” I promise : )
That was very informative to know about how to put the advertisements. As a web developer it was very helpful for me to know how to output markup in php html codes. Thanks for sharing.