Petal Perfume
What you need
- a handful of fallen petals and a few herb leaves, like mint or rosemary, collected in a cup
- a plastic jug of water
- a few plastic cups
- a spoon for stirring and mashing
How to do it
- Walk round the garden or the park together gathering fallen petals and a few herb leaves you know are safe, smelling each one as you go.
- Set up on a step or a garden table, and let your child tear the petals into a cup and pour in a little water.
- Mash and stir with the spoon, then sniff: flowery, minty, or a bit like grass?
- Make a different perfume in each cup, give each one a name, and let them offer you a sniff.
Why it matters
Here their nose leads the play, telling one petal from another and finding a name for every mixture they make.
What they're learning
- Smelling closely
- Sniffing to tell one petal from another.
- Tearing and mashing
- Small fingers ripping petals into bits.
- Words for smells
- Sweet, fresh, grassy, a bit like soap.
What to look for
Notice them sniffing two cups one after the other to compare.
A tip
Use only petals and leaves from plants you know are safe, pick fallen ones where you can, and keep the perfume for sniffing, never drinking. Stay beside them the whole time the water is out and tip it away when you finish.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: pick one strong smell, like mint, and mash it together in one cup
Harder: pour two perfumes together and ask which smell wins in the new one
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Sensory activities · Toddler activities with a spoon · Toddler activities with cups · Toddler water activities