Funny Fantastical Activity Friday: Smelling Salts

Babies and toddlers (maybe even a preschooler) all are developing the senses that help them explore the world around them. As parents we take our kids to the zoo to SEE animals, give them soft blankets to FEEL, turn on fun music to HEAR, and we give lots of yummy food to TASTE. But for the most part we assume they get enough to SMELL without our help.

But why leave it up to the environment to exercise the nose?

Spices and herbs have a strong and unique smell all contained in little jars ready to use! Nothing special required. For this game I sat a tray of 4 spices on the ground next to Blip. I have a cabinet shelf full of spices to choose from, we ended up going with mild curry powder, 5 spice, creole seasoning, and mild red pepper flakes this time around.

I think 4 is a good number, if you are doing this with a little bitty baby you could go with one or two...a preschooler 6 at most..4 is just perfect though.

A word of warning: I would recommend staying away from white pepper that may make your little one sneeze or a really strong chili pepper that could burn eyes. You want each one to be unique, a bit of a spicy smell can be good to explore, but use common since. 

Now that you have a few spices all laid out it is time to take off the lids. Of course Blip was eager to grab and throw so if your kiddo is in that stage hold on tight to the bottle and keep the unused ones away from little hands and lids on tight just in case. One at a time put the bottle under little noses and have them smell. Talk about how they smell in detail!

An older child may enjoy using a blind fold and turning it in a guessing game of what spice it is! There are a lot of fun possibilities with "smelling salts".

Tip: A bowl of coffee beans on hand can help clear noses between sniffs!