10 Smell Sensory Activities for babies and Kids

Family, Sensory Activities for Babies

August 16, 2023

As a parent of a baby or toddler with special needs, it’s crucial to create a sensory-rich environment that fosters your child’s learning and development. One key aspect of such an environment is incorporating various types of sensory activities, including smell sensory activities.

Looking for more sensory activities for babies? Read easy sensory activities for babies 6-12 months.

Creating a sensory-rich environment is crucial for children with hearing loss as it enables the engagement of all their senses.

By offering diverse sensory experiences, you are aiding your child’s ability to process and comprehend the world around them.

Moreover, a carefully designed sensory-rich activity not only helps in reducing anxiety but also enhances good behavior by providing a comfortable and captivating space where your child can freely explore and actively learn.

With my children, we have always tried to provide them with an environment rich in sensory play! Especially since two of my kids have hearing loss, we noticed that helping them develop their other senses helped them feel more secure in their everyday environment.

Smell sensory activities are unique in that they are a fun take on a sensory activity that can be easily incorporated into your day, and are a little different from the “typical” sensory activities that you are used to seeing.

In this blog article, we will delve deeper into the importance of crafting a sensory-rich environment for your child, and we will also provide 10 easy smell sensory activities that you can readily explore and experience with your baby.

Importance of Smell Sensory Activities

Engaging in smell sensory activities is a crucial component of creating a sensory-rich environment for your child.

These activities play a significant role in the development of their olfactory sense. This development enables your child to better comprehend and interpret their surroundings while honing their ability to distinguish various scents.

Moreover, smell sensory activities have been found to possess a calming effect on children. It helps them to slow down and relax in the process of the activity.

By incorporating these activities into your child’s routine, you can provide them with a more immersive and enriching sensory experience.

a toddler boy stands outside and scrunches up his nose for a sensory activity

Easy and Quick Smell Activities

Here are some engaging smell sensory activities that you can try with your child to stimulate their olfactory senses and create lasting memories:

Scented Sensory Bins: Fill a bin with various materials like rice, beans, or sand, and add scented items like cinnamon sticks, lavender, or citrus peels for your child to explore and identify different smells. The website Busy Toddler has some fantastic resources for easy DIY sensory bins
DIY Scented Playdough: Make homemade playdough and add different scents using essential oils or natural ingredients like cocoa powder or vanilla extract. Your child will enjoy the sensory experience while engaging their sense of smell.
Smell Guessing Game: Blindfold your child and let them sniff different items, such as fruits, spices, or flowers. Encourage them to guess the scent and discuss their observations, enhancing their sensory perception and vocabulary.
Aromatic Art: Add scented extracts or food coloring to your child’s paint palette, allowing them to create artwork that not only engages their visual senses but also introduces them to different smells.
Fragrant Nature Walks: Take your child for a walk in nature, stopping to smell various flowers, trees, and plants. This activity promotes exploration and appreciation for the natural scents around us.
Scented Bubbles: Add a few drops of essential oil to bubble solution. As your child plays with the scented bubbles, they will encounter a variety of smells. Here’s some fun additional ideas for creative bubble activities for kids.
Scented Water Play: Fill a tub with warm water and add a few drops of different essential oils. This is a fun, sensory way to introduce new scents while engaging in water play.
Herb Exploration: Create a mini indoor herb garden. Allow your child to touch, smell, and understand the unique scents of herbs like mint, basil, or thyme.
Scented Cotton Balls: Soak cotton balls in various essential oils and place them in a bag. Have your child feel and smell each one, identifying the different scents.
Aromatic Baking: Involve your child in baking cookies or bread. The variety of scents – from vanilla to cinnamon – can be an exciting sensory experience.

With these smell sensory activities, you can provide your child with a multi-sensory experience that promotes cognitive development, creativity, and sensory exploration.

Incorporating Smell Sensory Activities into Daily Life

Our lives as moms are already hectic, so why would you want to add more activities to your plate?

Well, I agree with you! And I’m here to help you incorporate sensory activities into your everyday life so that you don’t have to add anything else to your schedule.

Adding in smell sensory activities to everyday life is actually pretty easy. In fact, you can take a lot of the sensory bins and activities that you are already playing and add in a fun or interesting scent to it.

This way you can layer your activities and hit a variety of senses into one activity! There’s no rule that says you have to do separate activities for each sense.

You can absolutely combine activities and stimulate multiple senses at one time, and the sensory activity still works to help your child better navigate their world.

For example, you can take your child on a walk and point out different smells, such as the scent of flowers or freshly cut grass. You can also use essential oils and add them into water activities or playdough activities.

Even smelling the different scents during cooking and baking counts as a smell sensory activity!