Exiting Ways To Teach All About The Five Senses

Hearing:

We spent the entire morning on this sense, but I integrated so many other subject so we covered a lot of standards and had FUN learning.  Here is how:

This was our culmination activity each day.
My K students dictated, I wrote on lined paper, they copied & illustrated.
My TK students dictated, I wrote with a highlighter on their paper, they traced & illustrated.

We started by listening:

We listened to soft sounds and LOUD sounds by using this Thunder Tube.  

Click the image to see this on Amazon.com

We read about the sense of hearing and how our ears pick up vibrations and send the info to our brains.  

Then, We Went On A Listening Walk:

We listened to The Listening Walk, by Paul Showers.  

Click the image to see the book on Amazon.com

If you are lucky enough to find a cassette tape or audio version of this book, grab it.  It has wonderful sounds in the background.  The link above is for the book only.  

We followed up by taking our own listening walk on the playground.  We heard leaves crunching beneath our feet, cars driving by, birds, a dog, an airplane, and even the air conditioner outside of one of the classrooms.  We even counted how many different things we heard.  :)

We returned to our classroom and I met with small groups of five children.  We started by illustrating one thing that we heard while on our listening walk.  As the students drew and colored, I asked each child what they were drawing and I wrote it for them on lined paper so they could copy it or I used a highlighter and let them trace over it.  It all depended on each child's ability. 

This was our culminating activity each day.
This was my sample.
We always add blue background by using
broken, unwrapped, blue crayons to fill in the background.

This page is part of a 5-page book about out 5 Senses.  Students meet with me each day, experience hands-on activities having to do with one of the 5 senses, and then they write about it in their 5 senses packet.  You can find a similar packet in my TPT store by clicking HERE.  

Then we listened to our hearts:

If the child is holding the stethoscope, make sure they are not standing near a table or anything else the end of the stethoscope can drop onto.

If you are lucky enough to have a stethoscope, be very careful.  If a child has the ear buds in their ears, and they drop the end of the stethoscope on the table, it can hurt their ears.  I ALWAYS hold the end of the stethoscope carefully in my hand.  I tap gently on the end so they can hear how loud a gentle tap sounds.  Then, I carefully hold the end to their chest so they can hear their own heart beating.  I LOVE watching their eyes light up when they hear their own heart beating.  This activity drives home how you can HEAR something that you can't see.

I clean off the stethoscope with a baby wipe before the next child puts the earbuds in their ears.

Then We Matched Sounds:

Each sealed film canister has objects inside for the students to shake and listen to.  I placed the same objects into 2 canisters so every jar has a matching jar.  Students shake the jars and match the two that have the same sound.  

Make sure you number each jar and keep a "cheat sheet"
so you know instantly which 2 jars match.

Shake, shake, shake, and listen for a matching sound.

The following day, we learned about another one of our 5 senses until we finished our entire 5 Senses packet.

This is the cover sheet for the 5 Senses Packet.  Click the image to see the product.

This is what the "hearing" page looks like (minus the logo).Click the image to see the product.

See you all tomorrow for another one of our 5 Senses.

Let me know if you have any FUN ways to learn about the five senses. 

Palma :)