Explore your sense of smell ~ The Smell Detective

Fall brings with it so many wonderful and distinctive smells.  Some of my favorites include the smell of warm apple crisp, fresh falling leaves, pumpkin pie, cool air and spicy cinnamon.  My kids explored wonderful Fall smells though this simple discovery station.  I have to say that The Smell Detective was a huge hit.  

To set up a simple smell discovery station, I set up a number of common fall spices…cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, ginger.

Each of the kids took turns mixing two secret spices together, creating a “secret smell” that needed to be decoded by the smell detective.  The detective wore a blindfold to help the kids focus on what they were smelling.

The kids had a blast both mixing the spices and being the smell detective.

The kids discovered that only a tiny pinch of each spice was all that was needed to create their spicy mixture.

I set out a container of coffee beans to reset the kids sense of smell.

They were curious what would happen if they mixed three, four or more spices together. It was harder for the kids to detect each smell, but surprisingly they were pretty accurate with their detective skills.

Did you know that you can erase your sense of smell?  Check out how will our Smell Eraser Experiment. 

For more kids fall activities follow along with our Kids Autumn Activities Pinterest Board.