Stinky Turkey

                                         Stinky Turkey-Activity for the senses 

Who can play? 

   Children aged 2+

What do I need?

• Paper
• Glue sticks or school glue 
• Crayons or felt tip pens
• Herbs such as cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin spice.

Safety

As always, young children need to supervised. 

Explain to children that you need to gently smell the herbs and spices before the activity begins, otherwise it will go up their nose. Hold the spice jar around two inches away from the noses of younger children.

Have a small dust pan and brush close by, to clean up any spills.

What did we do?

First and foremost my daughter, Bee and I had lots of fun and enjoyment. 

To start, I drew a simple turkey's head and body in the centre of the paper.

Sitting around the table we both drew around our hands. 

We talked about the noises that turkeys make. I was quite surprised that she knew it said "gobble gobble"... Maybe we have been doing too many turkey crafts this year.

We had a little chat about what part of the body we smell with, and then set about smelling the festive herbs and spices. We talked about how to smell the herbs, but Bee made a rookie mistake and sniffed too much, resulting in a bit of the cinnamon going up her nose. After a quick sneeze and rub of the nose, we had another chat about smelling them slowly and gently. Bee said that most of them smelt like cake.

Once she was happy with the herbs/spices she liked, we began to apply glue onto the handprints. Isabella seemed to really enjoy shaking the small tubs of herbs/spices and quite a lot came out. If I was to carry out this activity again, I would probably attach a piece of sellotape over the top of the tub of herbs/spices and puncture a few holes in it, so that it restricts the flow (this is also a good tip when using glitter)

Once dry, the Turkeys were placed on the 'fridge' of fame for all the family to see. Bee was very excited to show it her Dad when he got home.

What did we learn?

Knowledge and understanding of the world- Asking questions about the herbs. Develop a sense of   

smell and think of ways to describe them.

Mathematical- counting fingers when drawing around them. Trying to keep the glue inside the hand 

print, therefore learning about space and measurement. 

Personal, social and emotional- Sense of pride and achievement at the end of product. Quality time 

with mum. Making decisions on which herb she likes the best.

Communication, language and literacy- Using new words to describe the smell of the herbs and 

spices. Learning the names of the herbs and the noise that turkey's make.

Creative- exploring new materials and designing their own turkey.

Physical- Developing fine manipulative skills, by shaking the spice/herb jar. Learning body awareness 

such as hands and finger. Holding the pen in a tripod grip (thumb and middle finger pinching the pen, with the pen resting ontop of the middle finger)

Follow up activities

If you all enjoyed this activity, here are some more ideas to delight your senses.

• Add herbs and spices to salt/play doh. 
• Add cotton wool inside clean socks and place herbs/spices into it. Tie firmly at the top with either an elastic band or bobble. Ask the children to smell the sock and describe what they smell and guess which herb/spice it is.