The five senses are how we learn about the world around us. Your senses send messages to your brain, which tells you what you are seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or smelling. The five senses are: sight (eyes), hearing (ears), touch (skin), taste (tongue), and smell (nose). Which sense do you use to see a rainbow in the sky?

Your eyes are the organs for the sense of sight. Light bounces off objects and enters your eyes. Your eyes change the light into signals that travel to your brain. Your brain figures out what you are seeing – colors, shapes, sizes, and how far away things are. Parts of your eye include the pupil (the black circle in the middle) and the iris (the colored part around the pupil). What part of your body do you use to see?

Your ears are the organs for the sense of hearing. Sound travels through the air as invisible waves. Your ears capture these sound waves and turn them into signals for your brain. Your brain tells you if the sound is loud or soft, high or low, and what is making the sound. The part of your ear you can see is called the outer ear. Inside your ear is an eardrum that vibrates (shakes) when sound hits it. Which sense lets you hear your favorite song?

Your skin is the organ for the sense of touch. Your skin is your body's largest organ. It covers your whole body! Your skin has millions of tiny sensors that can feel different things: hot, cold, soft, hard, rough, smooth, wet, dry, pain, and pressure. When you touch something, these sensors send messages to your brain. Your brain tells you what you are feeling. Which sense lets you feel that a stuffed animal is soft?

Your tongue is the organ for the sense of taste. Your tongue is covered with tiny bumps called taste buds. Taste buds can detect five basic tastes: sweet (like candy), sour (like lemon), salty (like pretzels), bitter (like dark chocolate), and umami (savory, like meat or cheese). Different parts of your tongue are better at detecting different tastes. Which taste do you feel when you eat a chocolate bar?

Your nose is the organ for the sense of smell. Inside your nose, high up, there is a small patch of tissue called the olfactory epithelium. It has millions of special cells that detect smells. When you breathe in, tiny particles from things like flowers, cookies, or garbage float into your nose. These cells send signals to your brain, and your brain identifies the smell. Did you know that your sense of smell is closely connected to your sense of taste? That is why food tastes bland when your nose is stuffy! Which sense helps you smell a flower?

Your sense of taste and sense of smell work together to help you enjoy food. Did you ever notice that when you have a stuffy nose (like from a cold), your food does not taste as good? That is because your nose cannot smell the food's aroma. Your tongue can only taste sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Everything else you think of as "flavor" actually comes from smell! When you chew, smells travel up the back of your throat to your nose. Why does food taste bland when your nose is stuffy?

Your senses are precious – they help you explore and enjoy the world. It is important to protect your senses. You should never put things in your eyes, ears, or nose. Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from bright sunlight. Wear a helmet when biking to protect your head (and your brain that processes all your senses!). Do not listen to music too loudly – loud sounds can hurt your hearing over time. What should you do to protect your hearing?

Your senses help keep you safe. You see a car coming – you stop. You hear a smoke alarm – you go outside. You smell smoke – you tell an adult. You touch a hot stove – you pull your hand away quickly (a reflex). You taste something bitter – you might spit it out because bitter can be a sign of poison. Which sense would warn you that a pan on the stove is very hot before you touch it? You can feel the heat from a distance!

Time for a sensory challenge! You are baking cookies with your family. You want to know if the cookies are done. Which senses could you use to check? You can look at them (are they golden brown?), smell them (do they smell like baked cookies?), and maybe carefully touch them (are they firm?). You could even listen for the timer beep! Taste comes last – after they have cooled down. Which sense is most important for seeing if the cookies are golden brown?