Senses: Children under the age of three explore and learn through their senses. To support development across all areas, use the following activities to engage and excite your baby or toddler.
- Glitter Pretzels: Salty Art! Make some dough pretzels with or without your child (here's one recipe to try). Before putting your pretzels in the oven, have your child decorate them with Edible Glitter! Mix 1/4 cup salt with 1/2 teaspoon of food coloring. Evenly layer a foil-lined baking tin with the colored salt and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before eating.
- Taste Comparison: For older children, choose two (or more) flavors of a desired food (e.g., different flavors of potato chips or ice cream). Put the two flavors in taste cups labeled A and B. Write down what your child thinks it smells like and then what it tastes like. Allow your child to “discover” what the flavor is, and see if she was right or not.
- Taste Test: If your child is eating all kinds of foods and has no allergies, help him learn about the different types of flavors and textures. For older children, have them close their eyes and see if they can guess what they are eating—and learn about the important role of vision in tasting! Foods to taste:
- Salty: potato chips or French fries
- Sweet: fruit juice
- Sour: pickle
- Bland: water
- Tangy: barbecue sauce
- Smooth: yogurt
- Crunchy: carrots
- Lumpy: Cottage Cheese
- Bitter: unsweetened chocolate
- For older kids: flavored jelly beans. Can they figure out the flavor of each?
- For older kids: have them make a chart and tally what tastes the like and what tastes they don’t