Smell Pots
What you need
- four or five cups, each with something to sniff: orange peel, mint, lemon, a cinnamon stick, banana
- a piece of paper over each cup, with holes poked in it
How to do it
- Let your child smell each thing before it goes in its cup, and name it together.
- Cover each cup with paper and mix them up.
- Sniff each cup slowly through the holes and guess what's inside, then lift the paper to check.
- Change places so they fill the pots and you guess, then choose a favourite smell each.
Why it matters
Smell rarely gets a game of its own, and sniffing slowly with eyes shut is a quiet way to pay close attention.
What they're learning
- Smelling
- Slow sniffs to work out what's there.
- Naming smells
- Fresh, sweet, sharp, spicy.
- Remembering
- Matching a smell to what they saw earlier.
What to look for
Notice them shutting their eyes to sniff.
A tip
Use a whole cinnamon stick rather than ground spice, keep everything away from eyes, and skip anything that might set off a sneeze, like pepper.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: use three strong smells, like orange, mint and banana
Harder: put the same smell in two cups and see if they can find the pair
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Sensory activities · Toddler activities with cups · Toddler activities with paper