Many animals have a keen sense of smell. Two-thirds of a shark’s brain is devoted to smelling, it’s no wonder we stay out of the water if we are bleeding. Bears too have excellent smell, their noses are enlarged with folds that hold thousands of smell receptors. Koalas only eat around 50 species of gum leaves, yet there ar07e more than 500 species out there. Imagine having to sniff out the ones they like to eat!
Children love smelling games and although we’re not even close to the top of the best smelling list, we can still have fun trying to smell like them. This activity is also a great starting point for teaching children about the five senses.
Smelling like an animal is easy
I took five jars from our recycle box and covered them with material. I used a pin to fasten the two ends together; this makes it easy to take off if you need to clean the inside of the jars. Salt and pepper shakers work well too.
While Miss Possum was playing out on the trampoline, I added some food to the jars and then covered the tops of the jars with tissues and secured them with a rubber band. It works best if you leave them for a couple of hours to let the smell fill the container but it still works quite well straight away.
Miss Possum was given the chance to smell each container. She had to name the food inside each jar and then name an animal that eats the food.
Food to use
Grass – We mow the lawn regularly in Australia, so I knew Miss Possum would know the smell of cut grass. It was perfect because many animals (like horses, kangaroos, cows and deer) eat grass.
Honey – I used honey to trick Miss Possum. I thought she might say that bees eat honey but she didn’t. She knew that bears like honey. Other animals that eat honey include 
badgers and raccoons.
Banana – Who eats banana? Monkeys do of course and so do bats, parrots and insects.
Eucalyptus leaf – These leaves are very strong-smelling but most children will find this quite hard. How often do we go around smelling gum leaves? Possums, stick insects and koalas do though.
Carrot – The smell of the carrot is much stronger when it’s grated. What eats carrots? Rabbits!
Biscuits – Yes, another trick for Miss Possum. She paused after smelling this one. I was hoping she would say ‘I eat biscuits,’ but instead she answered ‘the cookie monster eats biscuits.’ Hmmm, the cookie monster isn’t technically a live animal but I’ll give her that one because cookie monsters are real when you’re four!
You can use many other foods that you think your child would recognise, perhaps crushed up nuts (squirrels) or apples (for bats).
If you have a young child, you can make it easier for them by printing out photos of the animals. Children would then only have to match the smell with the animal picture.
Miss Possum can’t get enough of this activity. She loves trying to guess each smell and then thinking about the animals that would eat it. Her favourite part was looking at the bottom of the glass jar to see if she was right. Who would have thought smelling could be so much fun!
Wow! Did you make that game up ? What a fabulous idea! Love her Cookie Monster response…so cute
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Thanks Gracie. This activity is a twist on a school activity I once taught. Miss Possum keeps begging me to do it again and again. It’s a hit!
Oh I love the comment about the cookie monster eating biscuits. So cute! This is a great idea that I would love to try with my kids.
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Thanks Misha. Yeah, loved the Cookie monster comment too. It shows that she watched too much sesame street though!
That’s a great, educational game that not only sounds fun but doesn’t make a mess! Unless of course you spilt something, like the honey!
My kids don’t seem to be able to smell anything, especially their own stinky shoes!
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Stinky shoes! He he. Miss Possum must have a good nose because she can smell hers and tells everyone her shoes and feet stink.
Great activity! My middle child has an incredible sense of smell so he would probably do quite well! You have a smart little cookie there – couldn’t fool her at all!
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No! I thought I could though so daughter is smarter than mum in this round!
That’s a great idea Penny.
Developing the sense of smell and recognition, as well as testing knowledge about the environment!
Very clever!
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Thanks Tracey. I must say I’m glad we have a dishwasher. I’s be very over cleaning the jars right now!
We used to play this at playgroup – so much fun!
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Playgroup is the perfect place to play this game. I’d love to see a whole bunch of children discussing the smells and thinking of animals together. It would extend cirtical thinking and learning further.
Wow, that is very cool! Your daughter is lucky to have such a creative mum.
Thank you. I’m not always creative but this blog and my other one really force me to. It’s fun coming up with activities and I love when they are well recieved. Thanks for dropping by.
Wow what a great game Penny! I know I would have loved to play that when I was younger..
Perhaps we should have had it in ERs. Brainwave, perhaps I will add it to the itinerary this holiday period! Miss your face around the place but you’re too old for it now. So sad – you’re so grown up.
That is a great idea! I am sure the kids would love it! I miss ERs :’( I did try to get a traineeship in the wildlife hospital doing a certificate iv in vet nursing but sadly was not possible.. I will get there one day.. lol
Great idea, I love those little jars. I have seen smelling games before, but not from the perspective of smelling like an animal. Fun!
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That is a great game. I have seen my little kids smell plants and flowers before I had no idea of turning that into a game like this.
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