Montessori Tasting Bottles

Presentation:

The first time, we offer only 3 pairs to match, that is 6 bottles

(or 2 if the child is very young).

We open a small bottle, smell it and invite the child to smell it too.

We place the bottle away from the others, smell another bottle and let the child smell it.

“Does it smell the same as the other one?”… “No.”

We invite the child to look for the matching one.

To do this, we set aside the 1^st bottle and each time we pick up a bottle,

we compare it to the 1^st one.

The child continues the matching.

The first time, we will set out only 3 pairs to reconstruct.

We offer 2 sets of 6 smells and we can arrange other, more subtle sets.

We then introduce the vocabulary of smells, flowers…

There are plenty of games to play: guessing what a dish is made of (garlic, onion, mint…)…

The child's interest: - smelling,

- exploring their surroundings.

Aim: - refining the sense of smell.