Let Baby Smell Spices

Age: From 1-6 months old

Objective: To stimulate baby's senses.

Materials:

1. Containers of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, star anise, etc. or
2. Vanilla pod or
3. A ripe banana or
4. A slice of orange or lemon or
5. Flowers such as Lavender

Directions:

1. Open a container in front of you and pass it under your baby's nose close enough for her to smell it.

2. Watch her face to see her expression.

Additional Information:

According to the Baby center, your baby "may open his eyes wide, startle, or even smile. In the case of the citrus (a smell babies generally don't like), he may frown or turn away. Try this activity every few weeks as your baby gets older and see how his reactions change."

If you don't have the time to prepare smelling jars, and if you live near a spice shop, if the shop owner allows, simply bring your baby there and let your baby smell at the spices :-)

13 August 2016: It was raining today. We could not go out. We happened to have jars of spices. We tried this for the first time today, when Baby C was nearly 3 months old (12W6D). She liked the cinnamon smell, but not the Cardamon smell.

I am not so good at remembering. It doesn't have to be so many jars at one go. Whenever I have jars near by, or cut an orange, I should let her try to smell it.

There are a lot of inspiration for baby activities from Baby Center here:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_lets-play-weekly-activities-for-your-babys-first-year_1501475.bc#articlesection4

References:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_lets-play-tube-talk-common-scents_1498424.bc

http://www.babycenter.com/0_lets-play-weekly-activities-for-your-babys-first-year_1501475.bc#articlesection4

Montessori Activity: Scent Sensory Containers/Duft Sensorisk Containere/香味触觉容器 [xiāng wèi chù jué róng qì]

Age: From 1 years old

Activity Duration: 5-10 minutes

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To refine the child’s sense of smell.
2. To increase the child’s understanding and vocabulary of different smells.

Materials:

1. 4 containers with lid containing with items with strong aroma (I use Chinese tea, Earl Grey, Coffee powder and chocolate powder)
2. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child by smelling each of the container, and then describe the smell.

2. Encourage your child to try.

Video Demonstration:

https://youtu.be/_yuUO5vcvQg

Additional Information:

I chose to use tea, firstly because they are items which give strong pleasant smell, secondly because it is available in our home and lastly because tea is an important part of Chinese culture.

To reflect our cross-cultural family, I use both Chinese tea and English Early Grey (I ran out of Danish tea) and included also coffee and chocolate powder, or rather specifically carob powder.

I recycled the baby food containers that I have bought to store home-made baby food for this activity, but you can also use store-bought baby food jars.

Montessori Activity: Matching Scents

Age: From 2 years old.

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To refine the child’s sense of smell.
2. To increase the child’s understanding and vocabulary of different smells.

Materials:

1. 2 sets of 4 containers with lid each containing matching pairs of scent (I use Chinese tea, Earl Grey, Coffee powder and chocolate powder)

2. Cotton gauze to conceal the item in the container.

3. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Show your child by selecting a container from one set, opening the lid and sniffing the scent.

2. Then find the matching container from the other set. Once found, set the pair aside and repeat the process with the remaining containers.

3. Encourage your child to try.