Tastes of winter – blindfolded game

Type of resource: website, game, guidelines

Web address https://preschoolsteam.com/winter-preschool-science-activity/

Language: English

Description

Children will explore the sense of taste. The experiment consists on giving the children “winterish” foods, which they will taste blindfolded. Then they will express what they feel through their taste, and associate it with past experiences and bitterness, sweetness, or sourness.

Scientific concept introduced

Taste, sensations, senses.

Tastes: bitter, sweet, sour, salty.

Creative and critical thinking

To discover through their sense of taste.

To interpret what they sense and relate it to an ingredient they may have eaten before.

Mathematical reasoning

To classify the foods based on their taste: bitter, sweet, sour, salty.

Scientific thinking

Asking questions, observing (through their taste), exploring, making comparisons, drawing conclusions.

Learning how to learn

To develop motivation for the learning process, because of the food surprises.

To engage with the activity.

Additional

Sharing ideas, following rules and discipline.

Accepting management.

Large and fine motor skills, precise movement.

Acquiring vocabulary related to food.

Tastes of winter – blindfolded game

Overall aims

To develop the ability to observe and discover
To strengthen the research attitude of children
To improve children’s problem-solving (take initiative)
To create the learning opportunity for explaining the concept of taste
To improve their speaking and describing

Vocabulary – keywords should be understood

Play tray, blindfold, tongue, taste, sweet, sour, bitter

Expected learning outcomes (operational aims)

To follow the steps
To explain the concept of taste and the flavours sweet, sour and bitter
To discover with their sense of taste
To describe what they taste

STEM skills – to which the learning unit is related to

CORE STEM SKILLS

● Asking questions.
● Analysing and solving problems.
● Conducting research.
● Drawing conclusions based on evidence.
● Motivation to learn and engage.
● Self-disciplineand self-regulated learning (cognitive autonomy).

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Sharing ideas
Taking common decisions
Following the safety rules and discipline
Accepting leadership and management
Basic literacy- describing

Teaching methodologies/activity outline

1- Set a small amount of flavour on each play tray.

Make a tasting pile for each child in class, to avoid cross-contamination of germs.
2- Blindfold each child before starting the tasting procedure.
3- Instruct the children to dip their finger in each pile and see if they can identify the taste.
4- Ask question like:
Is this flavour bitter, sweet, or sour? What does this flavour remind you of? How is this taste used in winter?
5- Ask them to try each flavour both blindfolded and unblinfolded.
What do they notice is different about the flavours when they are blindfolded versus when they can see?

You can record student reactions by taking digital pictures as they try different flavours. What type of face do we make when we eat something sour or something sweet?
Also, for art they can draw a picture of their expression after trying each flavour.

Assessment of learning

Initial evaluation
– Get to know the previous knowledge they could know about the same theme.

Continued evaluation
– Progressively acquire basic habits of autonomy in everyday actions, to act safely and effectively.
– Observe and explore the immediate, natural and physical environment, with an attitude of curiosity and respect and gradually participate in social and cultural activities.
– Participate in the activity, through movement, assimilating sensations related to taste and with a progressive understanding of the necessity of some norms.
– Use the oral language, gesture and images to express ideas, desires, feelings and emotions; Listen and participate actively in regular situations.
Conversation and learning with the use of non-discriminatory language, and with attitude of respect towards other cultures and different languages.
– Manifesting the necessary abilities to be able to listen, observe, interpret and create in the different languages: verbal, body, plastic, musical, and mathematical audiovisual, and incorporate the introduction to technological instruments (ICT).

Final evaluation
– To describe what they taste.
– To relate the tastes to ingredients.