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Simple Science Observation Activity - Apples and the Five Senses

My kindies and I had a lot of fun exploring our 5 senses. There are so many experiments that you can do with kids and we did many of them over the year but this exploration was one of my favorites.

I gave each of  my students and apple and have them look at the apple very carefully. What could they see about the apple with their eyes?  My kiddos noticed the colors, spots, lines, and the shape.

I then had them feel the apple with their fingers. What could they see with their fingers? We talked about words like smooth, bumpy, pointed. One student was very excited to discover that the stem of an apple wiggled, another was thrilled to find the bottom of his apple was tickly.

After touching the apple we smelled the apple.  First we smelled the skin then we took a tiny bite of the apple and smelled inside. Students described the smell in all sorts of interesting ways. They all agreed that the smell was way more interesting inside an apple.

When I told the kids that we would be listening to the apple they laughed at me.  I asked them how we might listen to an apple. Students tried various things until someone realised that the apple made a sound when they bit into it.

Finally we explored taste. I had students taste the apple. We licked the skin of the apple then they took a normal bite. The second time I have them bite into the apple and chew 20 times before they swallowed.  Words like juicy, sweet, sour, plain were all used. Even my little guy who was sure he hated apples decided to try - afterall he didn't want to miss out on the fun.

Once we had finished students went to their Thinking books and drew what they experienced. I then had students come and explain to me what they saw, heard, felt, tasted and smelled.  It was a pretty simple experiment but the students loved it and we built some much vocabulary in that 30 minutes.

What did I learn at school today? Sometimes simple experiences can be very powerful. The conversations my students had about the apple were rich and full of wonder. They were excited to discover their senses in this way. What about you? Do you have a favorite activity to do with the 5 senses?


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