Olfactory Stimulation
At UCP’s Early Beginnings Academy, I work with many children who have a diagnosis of severe and profound intellectual disability. For these children, stimulation of the five senses is very important. In my previous Sense-ational Activity post, I shared a song and activity about providing tactile stimulation.
Here’s an original song I wrote called “So Many Scents.” It pairs with an activity where I use a variety of scents to provide olfactory stimulation for the children.
These are some examples of scents I’ve used based on the season we’re in…
Summer/Spring:
– peach candle
– flowery room spray
– mangoes
– mango passionfruit shave gel
Fall/Winter
– cinnamon
– oranges
– apple hand soap
– vanilla hand lotion
– apple cinnamon candle
– coffee beans
– tea bags
The sky is the limit!
Would you like to use this song in your sessions?
And be sure to check out the Sensational Songs & Activities E-Book for more sensory ideas, sheet music, & themed session plans:
I’d suggest cranberries and pumpkin for other fall scents, and peppermint and pine would go well with winter. I’ve used pineapple and coconut for summer, too. So many great scents!! Thanks for sharing your post!
Awesome Stephanie – thanks for those suggestions!
I also used coconut and pineapple scents with my kiddos during the summer. I actually found AWESOME body lotions in these scents at the dollar store — I have found that a lot of scented products at the dollar store smell awful and fake, but these were very true-to-life. And for summer, I’ve also used sunscreen as a scent…because, hey, what’s more summer than a little coppertone?
Hi Carolyn!
Great suggestions! I do a Beach themed activity in the summer and I use sunscreen as well – one of my FAVORITE scents! :)