See, Touch, Taste, Hear, and Smell a Book

The book You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear gives readers a fun way to learn about their five senses.  Definitely for early learners, this book allows an adult reader to show how the senses work through rhyming examples, funny drawings, and questions for children to use their senses.  Author Harriet Ziefert and illustrator Amanda Haley create a unique way to learn about your body.  Information is introduced in different ways to appeal to all different types of learners.  The pictures are great for visual learners, the rhyming sections appeal to auditory learners, and the do-it-yourself questions benefit kinesthetic learners.

You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear
written by Harriet Ziefert
illustrated by Amanda Haley
Scholastic, 2002
nonfiction book, ages 4 to 6
lexile measure: not available

SUGGESTIONS

READERS

This book is great for parents or teachers to use with young children.  Ziefert had the book reviewed by a science educator to check for accuracies.  The content is not only scientifically correct but also engaging because of Ziefert's writing style and Haley's drawings.  Readers and listeners will have fun learning about the five senses.

Ziefert starts with a basic explanation of the senses but through experiences the reader and children can share.

The next section of the text has rhyming examples for further explanation.

The last part of each sense has the children apply the sense to their own lives.  They can think about the questions and discuss what the sense means to them.

WEB RESOURCES
Sid the Science Kid
This website has an interactive game that allows kids to learn about the senses and choose objects based on the sense Sid gives.

Neuroscience for Kids
A University of Washington neuroscientist created a site with different activities to stimulate the different senses.  Children can learn about the senses and then complete interactive indoor/outdoor lessons to showcase how each sense works.

Five Senses Song
Sockhead Smith and Freddy Shoehorn sing a song to teach children about the senses.  The link above is to the YouTube video.

ACTIVITY

A great activity would include all different types of sensory stimuli.  Play different sounds and have the children identify what the sounds are.  Put different flavored candy in a bag and have them blindly choose and put it in their mouth then try to guess the flavor.   For touch, you could do a Halloween Party type of "reach in and feel" activity.  If this is for a class, you could set them up as stations.  Be careful of allergies when doing these activities!

SIMILAR READING
I chose the books below because they connect to and elaborate on the five senses.  I tried to choose book that use different ways of teaching the senses - through stories, pull tabs, and activities.

You Smell and Taste and Feel and See and Hear by Mary Murphy
Age Range: Ages 2 and up

Told through simple stories about Little Dog and Mother Dog, Mary Murphy teaches children the different senses.

Sense-Abilities by Michelle O-Brien-Palmer
Age Range: Ages 4 to 8

This book would be great for parents or teachers to use.  It provides lessons and activities to activate children's five senses.

The Five Senses by Keith Faulkner
Age Range: Ages 3 and up

This book would be great in the hands of the children.  It has simple text that could be read out loud and then interactive tabs that show the animals using their senses.