You've heard about all this Montessori sensory stuff but don't know where to start? Montessori Smelling Bottles
The DIY for this activity is quite easy and inexpensive. I have an example of a DIY Smelling Bottles work in a previous post. This work was created for an Early Childhood classroom. I wrote a post when my older son was only two years old: Simple Smelling Bottles. I like these Small Cylinder Bottles
Here is how I learned the work in my Montessori program:
The Smelling Bottles Lesson: Presentation I
“Would you like me to show you how to use the smelling bottles?”
- Remove the bottles from the box using the 3-finger grip.
- Line bottles horizontally from left to right
- Pick up far left bottle, unscrew lid and place lid on the table.
- Hold bottle below the nose and smell contents. Place bottle on table and replace lid.
- Continue until you’ve worked through each bottle. Offer the child a turn. As child works through the smelling bottles, ask him what the smell reminds him of
The Smelling Bottle Lesson: Presentation II-IV
Prepare basket with three pairs. Then, for further presentations, add pairs until all are available to the child.
“Let’s do some matching with the smelling bottles today.”
- Remove bottles from tray and position in an inverted V or rooftop with the bottle colors separated by side (left side is one color, right side is one color)
- Isolate lower left below the “V”. Smell the bottle with the same procedure as in Presentation I.
- Select lower right bottle, open and sniff it. If it is a match, move next to control. Sniff the control. Sniff the mate. “These two smell the same. They are a pair.” Re-cap and move the pair to the left.
- Repeat until you have matched all the pairs.
Additional Smelling Bottles Resources
- Clove Box from Montessori Services
- Cinnamon Box from Montessori Services
- Montessori Smelling Bottles
- Smell by Maria Rius
Best,
Marnie