Taste

Song: songs about eating/food (Apples & Bananas, Who Stole the Cookies, etc.) plus Five Senses Song
Books: Tasting by Robin Nelson, My Five Senses  by Aliki, books about food (Very Hungry Caterpillar)
Craft: pudding painting!
Outside: not much to taste outside (unless you have a garden), but you can eat snacks outside!
Snack: lots of different tastes--sweet, salty, sour, bitter & spicy (if you're feeling cruel)

Supplies needed:

• food for tasting: sweet (chocolate or fruit), sour (lemon or sour candy), salty (pretzels or chips), spicy (salsa), bitter (unsweetened cocoa powder)
• plate & spoon with various things to taste (ketchup, jelly, syrup, etc.)
• pudding & something to paint on (butcher paper or similar)

Begin by singing some songs, ending with the Five Senses Song.  Explain that today we're going to learn about our sense of taste.  

Read Tasting and then look at your tongues (you can have a mirror ready or just look at each others' tongues).  Point out the bumps, explaining that those are taste buds.  Taste buds tell us what things taste like.

Tell them that now we're going to use our tongues to taste some different foods.  Have them close their eyes, then give them the food you've prepared (salty, sweet, sour, bitter & spicy--try not to end with bitter).  See if they can tell you what it tastes like.  Help them learn the descriptive words above.

Prepare the plate with various things to taste.  Give them a spoon and let them taste things.  See if they can tell you if it's sweet/sour, salty, etc.

Pudding painting time!  Be prepared for a big mess--this usually turns into a body painting session.  Have them tell you what the pudding tastes like.

After you clean up, head outside for a picnic of lots of tasty food.  Tell why you're grateful for your sense of taste (and tell what your favorite things to taste are!).  End by reading some fun books about food/tasting.