3 Smelling games for children - promote the sense of smell

The sense of smell is one of the most original senses. Odors reach the oldest part of the brain, the limbic system. Smelling is a chemical sense. In contrast to the taste, we can perceive fragrances from further away. Fragrant substances continuously release the smallest molecules, which reach our nose via the air and are translated into a fragrance perception in the brain.

Smelling is far more important to our senses than we are aware of. For example, smell and taste are closely related. When eating, the fragrances rise from the inside of the mouth into the nose. It is only through the sense of smell that we are able to perceive fine tastes. Likewise, smells can trigger emotions and moods, for example influence sympathy or antipathy or trigger memories, without us really being aware of it. This already says the well-known saying: "I can smell that or that smell good!" – or we remember certain situations that we associate with a certain smell.

Games for the sense of smell

Fragrance-Lotto

Materials: Matchboxes, cardboard or cardboard, felt pens, scissors, glue, paper to stick on, fragrance materials such as, coffee, cloves, rose petals, star anise, orange peel, firs, flowers, herbs, cinnamon, essential oils… .etc.

The matchboxes are first covered with paper so that they all look the same. The boxes can then be filled with the fragrances. If essential oils are used, first fill a little cotton wool into the box and then put a few drops of the oil on it. Cut out 7 x 7 cm cards from the cardboard and either paint the scented materials such as cloves, firs etc. with the felt-tip pens or glue some of the material onto the card so that you can smell the scent directly on the card ( Attention: but first take a sniff, if the Glue has evaporated well). Alternatively, photos of the respective fragrance materials can also be used.

Game variations:

The cards are placed in the middle and the closed boxes are on the outside. Each child takes a box and smells the contents with his eyes closed. The appropriate card for the box is then searched for and the box placed on it.
Each child receives 2-4 cards. The matchboxes are in the middle of the table. One after the other, the children take a box and sniff the contents with their eyes closed. If you have the right card, you can put the box on it, otherwise it will come back to the center of the table.

Spice – trip

Materials: Shoe boxes, fabrics, buttons, pearls, fairy tale wool, cotton wool or tulle, paint, brushes, glitter, spices such as star anise, cinnamon, cloves, caraway seeds, juniper, coriander etc., a globe or a world map, stories (Christmas stories or others) all over the world.

The children start to design their spice carton. You can do this from the outside and / or inside paint, stick it on the outside with fabric, buttons or pearls and decorate it with cotton, tulle or similar. If you like, you can sprinkle glitter on the fresh color or spread glitter in the cotton wool. Now every child can choose a spice that they want to put in the box. The children can go according to their preferences, sniff the spices, touch and perceive them and then decide on one. If there are enough different spices available, the children can also choose two spices. Every child should be able to put enough spices (of one variety) in their carton so that the smell is clearly perceptible when the carton is opened.

Game type:

The children sit in a circle on the floor, with the spice box in front of them. In the middle is the globe or the world map. The first child now begins and opens his box. Perhaps the child already knows which spice it is and can tell. The spice can go around in circles and anyone can look at it and smell it. How does it smell How does it feel? The spice is then named and the children are shown the place of origin of the spice on the globe or on the map. On a card you can also put the spice directly on the respective country. Now a short story (fairy tale, Christmas story etc.) is read out from the respective country. This can also be wonderfully designed as a kind of advent calendar, with a new spice box being opened every day and a story told from the country of origin of the spice.

Examples of the origin of spices are:

Cardamom – India, Malaysia, Tanzania, Vietnam
Marjoram – Arabia
Carnations – Indonesia, Madagascar
Vanilla – South Mexico, Guatemala, Central America
Anise – Eastern Mediterranean area, Western Asia, Turkey, Spain
Coriander – probably Greece or Asia Minor
Lavender – France

On the track

Materials: Handkerchiefs without their own smell, ribbons, fragrance materials such as spices, firs, herbs, cotton wool with essential oil etc.

The fragrance materials are placed on the spread out handkerchiefs and knotted together with a thread to form sacks. The children are now tied a sack to their legs, whereby one child is the "sniffer dog" and has no sack on the leg. However, a small sample of each fragrance material (spice) is kept and not bound into the sachet.

Game type:

The "sniffer dog" now gets the sample (a spice) to sniff. Then the matching fragrance bag should be on one of the children to be found (sniffed). The child can crawl from one child to another on all fours, like a dog. Another possibility is that the children tie the scented sachet around their wrists so that they can walk from one child to another. Once the suitable bag has been found, it is put aside and it is the child ‘s turn to take the bag off and can sniff the next bag, etc.

Literature used: With all senses, Landa & Co, Christophorus