Exploring the Four Seasons through the Senses!

First, go to station 1.  This station is the Spring Station.  

1.  Spring is the time of year when flowers are blooming!  There are flowers on the table.  What do they look like?  What colors are they?  Do they have leaves?  Do they have long stems?  Do the flowers have stripes or dots of them?  What are some of the other things you see on the flowers?

2.  Spring time is also when lots of baby animals are born!  Baby animals, like baby humans, are often very noisy.  We are going to listen to some different animals sounds and see if we can identify what they are.  Do you know what these animals look like?  Do you like these animals?

3.  Can you think of anything else that happens during Spring?  Are there any Holidays that you celebrate during Spring?  Which senses (see, smell, taste, touch, hear) did you use at this station?

Next, go to station 2.  This is the Summer Station.

 1.  During the summer the weather can be hot and people want to go on vacation!  A popular vacation spot during summer is the beach!  Have you ever been to the beach?  At the beach, you can go swimming, but you have to walk through the sand to get to the ocean.  First, take off your shoes and socks and put your feet into the box of sand.  Be careful not to kick the sand!  What does the sand feel like?  Does it stick between your toes?  Next, put your feet in the tub of water.  What does that feel like?  Is the water cold or warm?  Now you can dry your feet off with the towel and put your shoes back on.

 2.  Now we are going to listen to the CD of people playing at the beach.  What are some of the different things you hear them doing?  Can you hear the waves?  Do you hear any birds?  Do people sound like they are happy or sad?

 3.  Can you think of anything else that happens during Summer?  What do you like to do when it is hot outside?  Which senses (see, smell, taste, touch, hear) did you use at this station?

 Next, go to station 3.  This is the Fall Station.

 1.  Fall has some very special seasonal foods!  Here we are going to try a couple foods that ripen (meaning that they are fully developed and we can eat them) during fall.  Can you identify what these foods are?  Do you know what these foods look like?  What colors are they? 

 2.  Something very special happens to trees when it is Fall.  All of the leaves turn bright colors and fall off!  We are going to look at some pictures of leaves, what are some of the things you can think of to describe them?  What colors are they?  Do they have more than one color?  Do they have spots on them?  

 3.  What are some other special things about Fall that you can think of?  What sound do leaves make when we step on them?  Are there any holidays during Fall that you enjoy?  Which senses (see, smell, taste, touch, hear) did you use at this station?

 Now, you can go to station 4.  This is the Winter Station

 1.  Winter is a special season because it is the only season when it snows outside!  Have you ever seen snow?  Snow is made up of very small pieces of ice that are called snowflakes.  Another thing that happens during winter is that people can go ice skating.  Now you are going to touch some ice.  What does it feel like?  When you hold it in your hand, what happens to the ice?  

 2.  A very big holiday happens during winter, Christmas!  Christmas has some very special smells that we are going to learn about.  You are going to smell a few different things and see if you can figure out what you are smelling.  Have you ever smelled these things before?  Do you know what these things look like?  What do we do with these things, do we eat them?  Do you like these smells?

 3.  What are some other things that you know about winter?  What kinds of clothes to we wear when it is cold out?  Do we see many flowers blooming during winter?  Do you know any Christmas carols?  Which senses (see, smell, taste, touch, hear) did you use at this station?

 Last, the student must draw a picture of each season and include what they remember from the task as well as include any other things they know about each season.  

 (image from http://www.nataliedee.com/031104/seasons.jpg)