It all started with this book:

You Can’t Smell a Flower With Your Ear by Joanna Cole

We read this book before bed one night and my kids really liked it.  It had a couple of “try this” activities in it which the boys enjoyed.  While my nine year old knew the information, my four year old learned a lot about his five senses. A couple days later we went to our local Botanic Gardens where they have this awesome Sensory Garden.  It was the perfect place the kids to explore their five senses.

The Garden:

The key:

The signs that guide us:

There wasn’t a plant for us to eat, but we did sit on a bench in the garden and eat our snack.  Right next to us was a water feature that allowed to to hear the sound of running water. We sat and listened to the sounds of the gardens, which was mostly birds and the water fountain.

You don’t have to have a specific Garden of the Senses to explore your five senses.  You can do it anywhere! If you want to make this an official lesson have the kids record what they saw, felt, touched, tasted, and heard to see if they can categorize what they experienced.

Or better yet, have them create their own sensory garden!  Have the children brainstorm what they would put into a sensory garden. Then, they can decide what kinds of things would put into the garden to stimulate all five senses. If they are old enough, they can draw a blueprint of the garden. If you have enough space, plant the garden at your home or school.  Your children can even make their own version of the signs and key

We really enjoyed the Garden of the Senses, but look what else the rest of the Botanical Garden had for us:

Click to see any of the pictures larger!

Do you see the butterfly?

My four year finding bugs. We saw a cool centipede!

If your looking to teach your little one all about their five senses, read the book then take a fabulous walk in a beautiful setting and talk about how you are using your senses!! I always love combining a book and real life experience