Sensory Spice Jars

Thanksgiving lends itself to a completely unique sensory experience due to all of the wonderful smells associated with the holiday.  This is the perfect time to explore your sense of smell, and there's no better way than creating a set of smelly spice jars for your science center.

There are so many different ways to make these, but the key is to make sure you still get the scent without actually leaving any spices in your jars - you don't want to deal with the sneezing that will come from inhaling the actual spices.

I love to use the actual spice containers that the different spices come in when I purchase them at the store because these are authentic. Many of your children will recognize them as something that they have seen in their own kitchens.

To do this, simply empty the spices into another container, then drop a cotton ball in the jar and put the lid back on. Shake it up good so that any spices remaining in the container are collected by the cotton ball.  This way, the children will be able to smell them, but they won't escape the container.

That's it!

Some great spices to explore include:

• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Cloves
• Ginger
• Allspice
• Apple Pie Spice
• Sage
• Thyme
• Rosemary

Here are some other ideas for using spices in the classroom:

Exploring Spices 

Spice Air Freshener Craft