Smelling Bottles: Scent Matching

Smelling bottles isolate and refine the olfactory sense, one of the least-exercised senses. Matching pairs develops discrimination and vocabulary.

• Framework: Montessori
• Unit: Sensorial
• Learning area: Olfactory Discrimination
• Level: Ages 3-5

Objectives

• Refine olfactory sense
• Develop matching and pairing skills
• Build descriptive vocabulary for scents
• Isolate the sense of smell

Materials

• Pairs of opaque bottles with different scents (vanilla, cinnamon, lavender, mint, coffee, lemon)
• Labels for checking
• Tray

Instructions

1. Present one set of bottles (different scents). 2. Waft each bottle beneath nose. 3. Name or describe each scent. 4. Present matching set. 5. Smell one from second set. 6. Find its match in first set. 7. Continue until all are paired. 8. Check with labels underneath.

Educator tip

Waft—don't sniff directly. Show children to wave hand over bottle opening toward nose. Refresh scents regularly.

Assessment

Child matches all scent pairs correctly.

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• Rough and Smooth Boards: Gradation
• Mystery Bag: Stereognostic Identification
• Color Box 3: Grading Shades
• Thermic Bottles: Temperature Pairing
• Geometric Cabinet: Shape Exploration
• Silence Game
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