Carrots Are Orange

Montessori Parenting & Learning

  • Montessori
    • Principles
    • Curriculum
      • Geography
      • History
      • Language
      • Life Science
        • Botany
        • Zoology
      • Math
      • Peace
      • Practical Life
      • Sensorial
    • Classroom
    • Theory
    • Materials
    • Courses
    • Printables
  • Activities
    • Art
    • Fall
    • Montessori
    • Outdoor
    • Science
    • Summer
    • Fine Motor
  • Parenting
    • Montessori Toys
    • Montessori At Home
    • Mindfulness
    • Social & Emotional Learning
    • Special Needs
      • Anxiety In Kids
      • Gifted Children
      • Executive Functioning
      • Sensory Processing Disorder
  • Printables
  • Resources
    • Book Lists
    • Gift Guides
    • Montessori Materials
    • Montessori Toys
  • Newsletter
  • About
    • Contact
Home » Montessori » Curriculum » Sensorial » Learn the Smelling Bottles Montessori Lesson

Learn the Smelling Bottles Montessori Lesson

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure .

You’ve heard about all this Montessori sensory stuff but don’t know where to start? Montessori Smelling Bottles are a lot of fun for children and for adults. The variations and extensions for smelling bottles go far and are easily adaptable to various themes and seasonal works.

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 for the work. You can use cotton balls and essential oils, then squeeze a puff of smell out of the bottle. Perfect.

Here is how I learned the work in my Montessori program:

smelling bottles

The Smelling Bottles Lesson: Presentation I

“Would you like me to show you how to use the smelling bottles?”

smellingbottleapproach

  • 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.”

smelling bottles

  • 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.

Montessori Smelling Bottles

Additional Smelling Bottles Resources

  • Clove Box from Montessori Services
  • Cinnamon Box from Montessori Services
  • Montessori Smelling Bottles
  • Smell by Maria Rius

Best,
Marnie

Tagged With: Sensorial, Shelf Work

About Marnie Craycroft

Marnie hails from Maine where she spent summers buried in sand and winters buried in snow. She is the daughter of a nearly four decade veteran of the public school systems. Teaching has always been a part of her life. She founded Carrots Are Orange in 2010.

Carrots Are Orange is a Montessori learning and living website for parents and teachers.

Marnie graduated from Wesleyan University in 1999 with a BA in Economics. She spent nearly a decade working in investment management. In 2006, she earned her MA in business from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.

Marnie moved to the west coast in 1999 and currently lives in Boulder with her husband and three sons. She is Montessori trained. Her work has been featured on Apartment Therapy, Buzzfeed, PBS Kids, BabyCenter, the Melissa & Doug blog, Huffington Post, and WhattoExpect.com. Besides writing, passions include running (usually after her three sons), photography, and outdoor adventures.

« Montessori Sensorial Variations & Extensions for Knobbed Cylinders & Color Tablets
Tasting Bottles: Montessori Sensorial »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • 7 Powerful Benefits of Gardening for Kids
  • 5 Ways to Help Your Child Build Self-Esteem
  • How to Successfully Homeschool without that Thing We Call Curriculum: Unschooling 101
  • 12 Unique & Creative Activities with Seeds for Kids
  • Your One Stop Shop – The BEST Montessori Math Materials & Activities

Copyright © 2022 Carrots Are Orange · Disclosure & Copyright · Site by Design by Insight