This is a sensory activity using herbs. The objective is to encourage children to discover different types of herbs and their associated aromas & textures. Suitable for children age 18 months and over.

Our sensory system is the foundation of our development, therefore it is imperative to exercise them during these golden years. Grinding, stirring, tearing and pulling the herbs helps their hands’ dexterity and works muscles that is important for pre-writing skills.

Alex was interested as soon as he sees the mortar & pestle on the floor. He knows how to use the mortar and pestle after watching me using it in the kitchen.  “What’s this?” he said. I answered, “Rosemary!”. He then quietly repeated the word (building up on his vocabularies) while starting to pull some of the leaves from the branch. He put it into the mortar & pestle, and started to grind it. Then followed with the other herbs. We discussed about the different herbs, on how they look. When he grabbed another bunch of Rosemary, he said, “Can I taste this?”. He was also experimented with pounding harder, slower, and stirring it around.

Materials

• Mortar & Pestle
• Lots of different types of herbs: Mints, Lemon Thymes, Basil, Rosemary, etc.

Instruction

1. Put the mortar and pestle on the table.
2. Provide the children with lots of different herbs to explore.
3. Let the children pick out some herbs and show them how to grind it. Let them explore the different aromas or even let them tasted if they want to.