For the past couple of years I felt like my five senses unit was lacking the level of fun and exploration I wanted for it. Each year I do five senses exploration bags, a sound bingo game, take a listening walk and more. The kids enjoy it but I knew there was more fun (and learning) to be had!
This year I tried something new when I brought in my popcorn machine and made popcorn with my class. I thought it would be a great way to explore using all five senses! The best part was because I was using a popcorn machine all students could see through the clear dome top and we weren’t missing out on using our sense of sight.
My students weren’t quite sure what to think at first since most of them had only made popcorn in the microwave but they ended up thoroughly enjoying it!
The students watched as the ingredients were added and then sat quietly as they waited for the popcorn to pop. The classroom erupted with excitement when the kernels started popping! One student said it looked like the popcorn was having a party with the way it was dancing around in the machine as more popcorn popped.
The students watched, smelled, listened and waited as we added butter and salt (because who wants popcorn without butter and salt). Then they were able to enjoy the part they loved the most… TASTING the popcorn. According to my students this year I am the world’s best cook… they LOVED the popcorn!
After we were done enjoying our delicious popcorn we described what we observed using our five senses. We recorded our answers on this freebie we found on Teachers Pay Teachers. Students said they could hear the oil sizzle, the popcorn pop, that it smelled buttery, and that it tasted salty and yummy. They did a fabulous job describing what they observed!
