My 5 Senses

2 min Magic Box hook

Today we look at the box. Turn it slowly so everyone sees every side. Whole class chants:

Shake it — the tiniest tick. Peek in, and go completely still: (whisper) “It's so… small. I can hardly SEE it.”

They shriek. Two fingers to the eyes, then point. “See!”

4 min Teach · See

Hold up the seed on your flat palm. Everyone leans in.

Now the magnifying glass goes round the circle, one child at a time, ten seconds each: look at the seed, then say what you see. Littles say the one word “See!” or just the thing — “Seed!” Bigs take the full frame: “I see a little seed.”

Then eyes shut, tight, everybody. Move one thing in the circle. Eyes open — what changed? Do it three times. They will out-see you every time.

Teacher fails: hold the magnifying glass against your ear and announce “Oh! Now I can SEE the seed!” Nod, pleased. Wait. Let them move your hand to your eye themselves.

Lay the 视觉 card beside the magnifying glass on the mat. Say it once, in Chinese, and leave it there — one character a day, no drilling.

3 min Song · Two Little Eyes — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. The chorus is a finger-play: they will do the actions before they can sing the words.

3 min Game · I spy with my little eye

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everyone sits tall and gets their “binoculars” up (two curled fists at the eyes).

Hands up, then the child points and names it. “Red!”  Bigs: “I see a red book.”

Six rounds — something red, something round, something blue, something tiny, something with a face on it, something that is YOU. Then two children get to be the spy while the class hunts.

Colours and shapes only, never letters — “something beginning with…” loses every English learner in the room. Point-and-name is the whole game.

1 min Close

Hands over the eyes, then fling them open on the shout. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Bill Martin Jr & Eric Carle) — they will chant “What do you see?” with you by page three.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today nobody looks. Box chant with your eyes shut — make them shut theirs too.

Shake it. Ting… ting… ting. Shake it again, softer. Hold it to one ear, then the other.

Cup both ears, lean in. “Hear!”

4 min Teach · Hear

Ring the bell right up loud, then so quietly that the back of the circle has to lean forward.

Now the silence game: everybody still, eyes shut, ten whole seconds. Then hands up — what did you hear? A car. A bird. A door. Somebody's tummy. Take every answer; the Littles will just say “Hear!” and point at their ear, and that counts. Bigs: “I hear a bird.”

Finish with the sound cylinders: shake one, shake its partner, shake a stranger. Same or different? Two children come and find the pair.

Teacher fails: hold the bell to your nose and sniff it, hard, twice. “Mmm! I can hear it beautifully.” Wait for them to march your hand up to your ear.

The 听觉 card goes down beside the bell, next to yesterday's 视觉.

3 min Song · Two Little Eyes — chorus + Tuesday verse

Sing this verse quietly, then have them sing it in a whisper. A whispered song makes twenty children listen to each other — which is the lesson.

3 min Game · Guess that sound

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Then: “Eyes… CLOSED.” You work behind the cloth.

“Paper!”  Bigs: “I hear paper.”

Six sounds: the bell, the keys, crumpling paper, water pouring from the jug into the cup, two hands clapping, and your own shoes walking. Then one child hides behind the cloth and chooses; the class guesses.

Do the water one last and pour it high — it is the sound they all get right and the one they ask for again tomorrow.

1 min Close

Hands cupped at the ears, leaning in. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Peace at Last (Jill Murphy) — every page is a noise. Make the noise with them; don't read the sentences.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today we reach in without looking. The box comes out with a cloth bag sitting inside it.

Hand in, eyes up at the ceiling, feeling about. Narrate it: “Ooh… it's bumpy… it's pointy… it's… a PINECONE!” Out it comes.

Everyone wiggles ten fingers. “Touch!”

4 min Teach · Touch

Three things go round the circle, one at a time, everyone gets a feel:

Littles say the feeling word and wiggle their fingers: “Soft!” Bigs take the frame: “I touch something soft.”

Then the bag again, this time for them: reach in, name it before you pull it out. Right or wrong, everybody claps — the bag is its own control of error, you pull it out and you see.

Teacher fails: pull out the sandpaper, stroke it lovingly down your cheek and sigh “Ahhh… so SOFT.” Offer it to a child to stroke. Wait.

Chinese moment (2 min, at the open window): read 《初秋》 孟浩然 — “不觉初秋夜渐长，清风习习重凄凉。” Then everyone goes silent and uses all five senses on early autumn: what can you hear? what can you feel on your face? what does the air smell like now? Lay the 触觉 card with the others.

3 min Song · Two Little Eyes — chorus + Wednesday verse

Sing it once with hands behind backs and once with hands out in front. They notice the difference themselves.

3 min Game · Sink or float?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The basin comes to the middle of the circle, the two dishes either side: 沉 sink and 浮 float.

Each child holds the object, feels the weight, guesses, and then drops it in and watches. “Sink!” “Float!”  Bigs: “The stone sinks. The cork floats.”

Eight objects: stone, coin, key, metal spoon, marble — cork, leaf, feather, apple, wooden block. Wrong guesses are the best bit; nobody is wrong, the water answers.

Guess before the drop, every single time. The touch comes first (heavy / light), then the prediction, then the water tells the truth — that is the whole experiment, and it lives on the shelf all week.

1 min Close

Ten fingers wiggling in the air. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Any That's Not My… touchy-feely book (Fiona Watt) — pass it round, every child gets one patch to stroke and one word: soft, rough, bumpy.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today we sniff the box. Lift the lid a crack and sniff at the gap, eyes closed, for a long moment.

Carry the open box round the circle so every child gets one sniff before anything comes out. Then lift out the orange jar.

Tap your nose. “Smell!”

4 min Teach · Smell

One jar at a time, lid off, round the circle. Big sniff, then the face that goes with it.

Littles sniff and say the one word — “Orange!” — or just pull the face, which is also an answer. Bigs: “I smell an orange.” and “I like it.” / “I don't like it!”

Then all three jars with eyes shut: can you tell them apart with your nose alone? Two children at a time.

Teacher fails: hold the jar up to your eye like the magnifying glass and peer into it: “Nothing there! I can't smell a single thing.” Wait for twenty children to shout your own nose at you.

The 嗅觉 card joins the row. Four down, one to go — point along the line and let them tell you which one is missing.

3 min Song · Two Little Eyes — chorus + Thursday verse

Three real sniffs on “sniff, sniff, sniff” — loud ones. It is the funniest line of the week and they will do it in the corridor.

3 min Game · Sniff and find

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The three real objects — orange peel, mint, ginger — are waiting on a mat across the room.

They run, choose, hold it up. The class calls it: “Orange!”  Bigs bring it back and say “I smell an orange.”

Every child gets a turn — it takes about eight seconds each. Last two rounds, send two children at once and let them race.

If a child hesitates at the mat, let a friend go and stand beside them. Nobody sits down without having held something.

1 min Close

Everybody's finger on their nose. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (Don & Audrey Wood) — the whole book is about a smell nobody can resist.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box comes out fat, rattling, and smelling of lemon.

Pull the props out one at a time and hold each up in silence — they will supply the word before you can.

Magnifying glass → “See!”  Bell → “Hear!”  Feely bag → “Touch!”  Jar → “Smell!”

Last of all, the lemon. Everyone waits. “TASTE!”

4 min Teach · Taste, then the whole week

One clean spoon per child, three tastes, faces allowed to be enormous:

Littles say the one word and pull the face: “Sour!” Bigs: “I taste a lemon. It is sour!”

Then everybody stands and we tell the whole week with our bodies, twice — slow, then fast:

Teacher fails: put the lemon slice to your ear and listen hard. “Hmm. It doesn't taste of anything.” Hold the pose. Let them fix you twice.

Allergy check before you start, and one spoon per child — never a shared spoon. A child who won't taste can smell instead and still shout the word.

3 min Song · Two Little Eyes — Friday verse, then the WHOLE song

The finale: chorus → Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday → chorus, top to bottom. They learned it one verse a morning without noticing, and this run-through is the review of the whole week.

3 min Game · Which sense?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Props in a heap in the middle. Hold one up; the class shouts which sense it needs and does the gesture.

Magnifying glass → “See!” (fingers to eyes)
Bell → “Hear!” (cup ears)
Sandpaper → “Touch!” (wiggle ten fingers)
Jar → “Smell!” (tap nose)
Lemon → “Taste!” (tongue out)

Go round twice, faster the second time, then let a Big hold the props. Bigs owe you a sentence — “I hear a bell.” — Littles owe you a word and a gesture.

Slip one thing in that needs two senses — the orange. Watch them argue. Both answers are right; say so out loud.

1 min Close + awards

Every child gets a “You are a STAR!” award to take home with the sink-or-float news. Then, standing, with all five gestures:

Got 3 spare minutes? Lemons Are Not Red (Laura Vaccaro Seeger) — every page is a “no it isn't!” Perfect for a class that has spent all week correcting you.

The four chords

Tempo: gentle and bouncy, like a finger-play — this is a hands song, not a shouting song. Slow right down for the last line of the chorus (the Am), then lift on “off we go!” Chant it without the uke first; add chords once they know the actions.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. The actions are the whole point — a two-year-old who does all four gestures has understood five senses, whether or not a single word comes out.

One verse a day — verses use only C and G7

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. By Friday they know five verses without ever “learning” the song — Friday's finale is the whole thing top to bottom, and it doubles as your review of the entire week.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. Add Am last: it is one finger on the same string as F, so slide from Am to F and back until it stops feeling like a change. That's the entire song — and the five verses are only C and G7. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down and do the finger-play instead: the class will not notice, and the actions carry the meaning either way.