Such a simple sensory activity that doesn’t require a lot of money and time, smelling bottles are a gift that keep on giving. My son is only two years old so I haven’t yet had to use the dozens of old 35mm film canisters I got off from Craigslist (love FREE on Craigslist!) for this exercise. That step comes next.
Our execution was straightforward: I left out six different spices on a tray in his activity area. The spices I chose from our spice drawer and included: Thyme, Chili Pepper, Cinnamon, Garlic Powder, Nutmeg and Cayenne Pepper. Knowing this exercise would turn into a fine motor exercise with my son screwing off the tops, I also chose spices with appropriate lids! The tray I used was $1.50 from Goodwill.
I pointed out each spice to him one at a time with a good sniff, then he took his time exploring the smells. He recognizes Cinnamon, Thyme and Nutmeg fairly easily but the others are new to him. Next stop is using dark bottles and/or a blindfold.
I love this series of him opening one of the spices.
These shots of him smelling the Chili Powder and Cinnamon crack me up. Talk about sensory overload! Can you tell which spice belongs to which image?
And of course the last step of exploration – shaking, seeing, smelling and tasting.
A lot of fun and super easy, this exercise packs a big punch!
Both our boys take Mandarin class at a wonderful language school here in Seattle. Although the teachers and their program are quite effective, with only an hour class once a week, we felt strongly that we needed to find additional ways to integrate Mandarin into our daily life and to supplement the weekly language class.
We take Mandarin but the following list can be applied to other languages too. So here is how we do it:
Little Pim – We test drove these videos by loaning the DVDs from the library. We quickly fell in love and ended up purchasing the videos (streaming via Amazon). Little Pim is an adorable cartoon Panda Bear. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was too thrilled about this character but he is very likeable and children adore him. There are six videos in the series covering “i can count”, “eating and drinking”, “happy, sad and silly”, “in my home”, “playtime” and “wake up smiling”. Your child will learn hundreds of words for real life situations.
One thing I love about Little Pim products are the companion guides and scripts for parents and teachers. So very, very helpful.
Also, Little Pim does have a few apps for the iphone and ipad. I have been less impressed with these products so far but I am sure they will improve with updated versions.
Journeys to the East: The River Dragon King- An easy win with my son! Tells of two siblings making a trip to ancient China. So the video introduces your child to Chinese culture and slips over 50 vocabulary words into the adventure. There are also very catchy tunes that makes learning words fun and easy for you and your child. The songs are definitely a little cheesy but they do the trick.
Ni Hao Kai Lan – We love Kai Lan. She is the Chinese version of Dora the Explorer. Nick Jr. has hit it out of the ball park (how is that for a sports analogy?). She and her buddies are sweet and always send a great message in what each show teaches our children. Ni Hao Kai Lan is one way we integrate Mandarin during down time. There are lots of fun activities on the Ni Hao Kai Lan website too.
Books – Our favorite books are Gordon & Li Li Learn Animals in Mandarin. There are three board books including numbers, everyday words and animals. The books are simply illustrated with cartoon characters. More importantly, the books include the pinyin, Chinese letters and phonetic pronunciation (which is hugely helpful for us non native speaking parents!). There are also books that go along with the Nursery Rhymes cd listed below and a Teach Me Chinese cd we recently borrowed from the library.
Mandarin story hour – We are so fortunate in Seattle to have Mandarin story hour at our public library and at Twirl Cafe, a play cafe. You could find a way to do story hour at home. There are Chinese childrens’ “books on tape”.
Puppets – I stole this idea from Sponge, our language school. You can use store bought puppets or create your own. An easy and very fun way to integrate vocabulary and play!
YouTube – We know that children love the computer so if you can’t beat them, join them. There are many lessons and songs for children on Youtube, a wonderfully resourceful and FREE way to integrate language into your daily routine! Check out videos here and here
IPhone and IPad Apps – We are not afraid to integrate technology into our daily learning and teaching routine. I work with him and guide him as he “plays” with these educational applications. See this post for a list of Chinese Apps that we love to use almost every day. Apple has added to the array of Chinese learning apps for children so we have added to our stock, like this one, for example. I will update this post but also feel free to email me at marnie at carrotsareorange dot com for additional applications.
Finally here is a link to a simple language exercise you and your child may enjoy.
Even though today Seattle had the tenth or eleventh (I lost count) day of 80 degree plus weather, I still smell fall in the air. I grew up in New England and I just love the warmness and fuzziness of fall. I have wonderful memories of running through apple orchards with my cross country team, wearing wool sweaters that itched my chin and, ah, the smell. So, yes, fall is by far my favorite season – apple picking, apple cider, crisp air, turning leaves…As you can imagine, I was excited to create a fall sensory tub.
This tub includes (lots of “fake” stuff because I’d like to store it away – we’ll add the real deal soon enough):
Real and fake acorns
Real and fake pinecones
Cinnamon Sticks
Fake leaves of all sort of colors
Broken bits of raw spaghetti to simulate hay on a farm
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