Step-by-Step Guidance
1. Prepare the environment: choose a calm table or floor space with a clear boundary (tray or mat). Place hand wipes/handwashing access nearby and keep ingredient packets to hand for allergen checking.
2. Select ingredients: choose a small number of familiar items with clear sensory differences. Avoid high-risk choking items for younger children and avoid unknown foods for children with anxiety around sensory play.
3. Portion and contain: place each ingredient into its own small pot. For strong scents or wet items, use a lid and open only when needed. For liquids (e.g. vanilla), apply to a cotton pad inside a pot rather than offering free liquid.
4. Introduce the experience: explain that children can use smell and touch to work out what an ingredient might be. Offer choice: eyes closed, looking away, or watching only.
5. Model boundaries and hygiene: show how hands go into the box/bag one at a time, and that ingredients stay in the pot. Agree what children can do if they want to stop (e.g. hands out, wipe, take a break).
6. Present one ingredient at a time: place a single pot into the box/bag. Invite a child to explore with fingertips and smell, without rushing to name it.
7. Support describing before guessing: prompt for what they notice (texture, temperature, strength of smell) and accept non-verbal responses. Offer a small set of words if needed.
8. Invite a guess and a check: children can name the ingredient, point to a picture card, or choose from two options you offer. Reveal the ingredient visually only after the child has finished exploring.
9. Repeat with variation: rotate turns, adjust the number of ingredients, and include a “same or different” comparison if children are interested.
10. Close and reset: end with handwashing, tidy away ingredients safely, and note any strong preferences, worries, or allergy-related considerations for future planning.
Learning Objectives
Children may build confidence in exploring sensory information in a supported way, linking to Personal, Social and Emotional Development (self-regulation and managing self). Children may extend Communication and Language by using words, gestures, and facial expressions to describe what they notice. Children may also draw on Understanding the World by connecting sensory clues to familiar foods and routines.
Adult Role
Stay emotionally attuned by watching for hesitation, sensory overload, or excitement, and offer clear opt-out routes without pressure. Model calm language for uncertainty, such as naming observations rather than pushing for correct answers, and validate children who prefer to watch. Scaffold lightly by offering a small choice of descriptive words, slowing the pace, or reducing the number of ingredients; step back when children begin to compare, describe, or take turns independently. Observe in action by noting how each child approaches touch and smell, how they manage waiting and turn-taking, and what vocabulary or strategies they use. Hold responsibility for safety by checking allergies and dietary requirements, controlling portion sizes, preventing mouthing, and maintaining hygiene routines throughout.
Observation Cues
Reaches in quickly or pauses to gather information through fingertips and smell before naming.
Uses descriptive language (e.g. rough, smooth, powdery, cold, strong) or substitutes with gestures.
Checks in with the adult for reassurance, asks to stop, or chooses to watch instead.
Compares two ingredients and changes their guess after new sensory information.
Shows awareness of hygiene routines, such as waiting for a wipe before touching their face or food.
Listens to peers’ ideas and adapts their own thinking or vocabulary.
