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Young Children Learn Through Their 5 Senses

Young children learn through their 5 senses; therefore, providing hands-on experience allows children to touch, see, smell, taste, and hear become important.   When designing learning environments, teachers should focus on objects and materials they can provide for the children to handle and observe.   Many of us have a hard time developing materials from such experiences.  Teachers in Pre-school and Pre-K often teach centering on themes.  In selecting themes and preparing experiences, teachers need to think about those real objects and materials for the children to explore.   Do we think about the ways children can use their 5 senses?  One way is to pick a theme and then gather objects and materials.  Children must observe, handle, and explore from that theme.  With this in mind, we can ensure children in your care to provide these real hands-on learning experiences.

ð  Children have more sensitive ears than adults.  They can recognize a wider variety of noises.

Here are a couple of examples to try:

Humming a Tune-Hum only a familiar tune like “Old MacDonald,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb” without singing any words.  Divide the group into teams and have one team guess the hummed song to win a point.

What Was That? –It is surprising all the noises that you can hear in the classroom even when everyone is quiet.  Well, what are they?  Listen and share  everything you can hear.  Find a sound CD, play it one at a time and let the children guess. What can you hear if everyone is quiet?

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