Preschool Activities: Guess That Smell!

By Tiffany Rudd

I've played this simple game in many variations with my preschool students over the years and every time it is a huge hit! 

The first thing you need to do is gather a bunch of "pungent" items. I've used foods like peanut butter, onion, cilantro, banana, citrus fruits, chocolate,  bacon bits, and pickles. You can also use non-food items like a cotton ball with perfume or rubbing alcohol on it, hand lotion/sanitizer, or even a crayon.

Then you can either blindfold your child and hold each item under her nose, or put the items in opaque containers with a hole in the lid. I've used old-school film canisters in the past, but this time I had these empty plastic juice containers on hand that worked great. I just poked a hole in the top with the tip of a knife. Be careful not to cut yourself and definitely don't let your child do that part. Duh. :)

Now, just have your child smell and try to guess what the item is without peeking...

Mmm...I wonder what it is?

 After she guessed I just let her take the lid off and see what was inside.

 This is her "That is not what I expected at all!" face.

 Her, "I'm too gorgeous not to stop and smile for the camera" face.

 I always choose at least one stinky item. This, "That is seriously nasty!" face is just too fun to pass up.

 And, of course, the "I guessed right!" face. Love that crooked smile.

Remember, you can do this activity even if you don't have any containers to use. I only had 4, so I emptied and replaced the items halfway through. You could use one container and just replace the item each time, or just use a blindfold and no container at all.

After we were done doing this activity together Brooklyn spent another 20 minutes mixing the items together in different combinations to see how they would smell. Yay for child directed science experiments!