Session 1 Activity: Sense Sorting Challenge

Objective:
Help the student practice identifying the five senses by sorting picture cards onto the correct sense mats.

Materials:

• Sense Picture Cards
• Sorting Mats
• A small tray or table space

1. Set Up (30 seconds)

• Lay out the five Sorting Mats in a row, each labeled with one sense (Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell, Touch).
• Place the stack of Sense Picture Cards face down on the tray.

2. Demonstration (30 seconds)

• Pick one card (for example, a picture of an ice cream cone).
• Think aloud: “I see an ice cream cone. I taste ice cream. That means this card goes on the Taste mat.”
• Place it on the Taste mat.

3. Guided Sorting (2 minutes)

• Invite the student to pick one card from the stack.
• Ask: “Which sense do we use for this picture?”
  • If the student is unsure, offer a prompt: “Do we smell it, hear it, taste it, touch it, or see it?”
• Have the student place the card on the matching mat.
• Provide praise for correct choices and gentle guidance if they choose incorrectly.

Prompts to Support the Student:

• “What happens when you hear thunder?” (Hearing)
• “How do you know if something smells like flowers?” (Smell)
• “Which sense helps us read this book?” (Sight)

4. Independent Sorting Round (1 minute)

• Shuffle the remaining cards and ask the student to sort as many as they can on their own.
• Count together how many cards landed on each mat.

5. Wrap-Up and Reflection (1 minute)

• Review each mat: “Let’s look at the cards under Taste. Why did we put ice cream there?”
• Ask the student to name one sense they like using the most and one sense they sometimes forget about.

Extension (if time allows):

• Ask the student to draw one activity they enjoy for their favorite sense on a blank piece of paper.