Smelling Bottles

The smelling bottles isolate and develop the olfactory sense, helping children become more aware of their environment through scent.

• Framework: Montessori
• Unit: Sensorial
• Learning area: Olfactory Discrimination
• Level: Ages 4-6

Objectives

• Develop sense of smell
• Match identical scents
• Build vocabulary for scents
• Connect smells to sources

Materials

• Two sets of smelling bottles with matching scents
• Scents: lavender, mint, cinnamon, vanilla, coffee, etc.
• Contents concealed from view

Instructions

1. Open first bottle from one set. 2. Waft scent toward nose gently. 3. Open bottles from second set, compare each. 4. Match identical scents. 5. Close matched bottles, place together. 6. Continue until all pairs matched.

Educator tip

Demonstrate proper 'wafting'—gently fanning scent toward nose rather than inhaling directly from bottle.

Assessment

Child correctly matches scent pairs and can describe or identify scent sources.

More from Sensorial

• Tasting Bottles
• Mystery Bag (Stereognostic Bag)
• Geometric Solids
• Baric Tablets (Weight)
• Knobbed Cylinders
• Knobless Cylinders
• Geometric Cabinet
• Constructive Triangles