Touch

Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes (any song where they have to touch something), Five Senses Song
Books: books with textured pages (usually for infants)
Craft: touch plate (paper plate with different things to touch)
Outside: find things that are hard/soft, smooth/rough, etc.
Snack: warm/cold food, hard/soft food

Supplies needed:

• paper plate & pieces to glue on (sandpaper, silk, cotton balls, tin foil, dried leaves, rice, etc.)
• glue--I'd go with white Elmer's glue here.  Let them use a Q-tip to spread it on.
• sandpaper, silk, ice, jar of warm water (or something else warm), rock & cotton ball, sticky tack or Silly Putty, bowl of rice, bowl of flour--basically anything with an interesting texture.
• box to put things in (so the child can't see it), or a blindfold
• feather (or another soft object)

Begin by singing songs, ending with Five Senses Song.  Tell them that today we're going to learn about our sense of touch.  Explain that you were using your hands to touch parts of your body.

Read Touching.  Tell them that we use our skin to feel, or touch.  Have them look closely at their skin.  What do you see?  Look at your fingertips.  Tell them that our fingers are the best at feeling things, but that all of our body can feel things.  

Tell your child to close his/her eyes. Take a feather and tickle various places on his/her body (back of the neck, nose, knees, belly, ears).  Ask if they can feel the feather touching them.  Then tickle their hair.  Can you feel the feather on your hair?  No, because you feel with your skin, not your hair!

Bring out the box.  Put one of the objects inside without them seeing.  Have them tell you what they feel.  Is it hard or soft?  Smooth or rough?  Warm or cold?  See if they can guess what it is. Remind them that they are touching with their skin.

Craft time!  Give them a paper plate and all the sensory pieces you feel like letting them glue.  Give them a Q-tip (or paintbrush) and a small amount of glue.  Tell them to glue whatever they want on their touch plate. As they select pieces, have them tell you what they feel like.  

While their plate is drying, head outside.  See if you can find something hard/soft, warm/cold, smooth/rough, etc.  If it's cool enough outside, you can put gloves on and see if you can still feel things as well.  

Come back inside for a snack (have them tell you if it's hard/soft, warm/cold, smooth/rough, etc.) and to read some books.