Activity Introduction
Do you know your smells? Your skills are about to be tested! You’ll have a series of cotton buds, all with different smells on them, and it’s up to you to identify them.
Safety advice: This is an activity about smelling and not tasting. Remember that not everything that smells good will taste good or will be good for you (such as flowers, perfume or shampoo).
This activity is a great one to do together as a family.
Ideal for: Lower Primary Ages 5 – 7
Themes:
- investigate
Time required: 15-20 minutes
Curriculum connections: Science, Critical and Creative Thinking
Depending on the age and ability of your kid/s, you may need to prepare the cotton wool buds prior to starting the activity.
• Cotton wool buds soaked or dabbed with different scents. Use anything from inside the house that has a distinct smell and that can be applied to a cotton bud. For example, you can use: eucalyptus oil, vanilla essence, coconut essence, almond essence, perfume, antiseptic lotion or solution, dishwashing liquid, vinegar, fish sauce, or rub the cotton buds with different herbs such as mint or basil.
• Paper, scissors and pen/pencil to create labels
• Plates or plastic trays/tubs to place cotton buds on
• Rubber gloves (optional)
[email protected] from Cool Australia
[email protected] resources are designed for parents and teachers to use with children in the home environment. They can be used as stand-alone activities or built into existing curriculum-aligned learning programs. Our [email protected] series includes two types of resources. The first are fun and challenging real-world activities for all ages, the second are self-directed lessons for upper primary and secondary students. These lessons support independent learning in remote or school settings.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.
