Smelling Bottles

The Smelling Bottles isolate and refine the olfactory sense. Scent is strongly connected to memory and emotion.

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

Objectives

• Refine sense of smell
• Develop olfactory memory
• Build vocabulary for scents
• Connect smell to experiences

Materials

• Smelling Bottles: pairs of identical bottles with scents
• Cotton balls with essential oils or natural scents
• Lavender, peppermint, lemon, cinnamon, etc.

Instructions

1. Present one set of bottles. 2. Remove cap, hold under nose, inhale gently. 3. 'This smells like...' 4. Find matching pair from second set. 5. Verify by smelling both. 6. Discuss scent associations.

Educator tip

Replace scents regularly as they fade. Use natural scents when possible.

Assessment

Child matches scent pairs and describes scents with vocabulary.

More from Sensorial

• Tasting Bottles
• Fabric Matching Box
• Geometric Cabinet
• Binomial Cube
• Trinomial Cube
• Mystery Bag / Stereognostic Sense
• Sorting by Multiple Attributes
• Color Mixing with Droppers