Learn with Emilia · Story 10
About “Emilia's Five Senses”
- Ages: 2-5
- Length: 5 min
- Season: Learn with Emilia, story 10
One garden morning, Emilia discovers her five senses: she sees a butterfly, hears a bird, smells a flower, tastes a very sour lemon, and touches soft Pip and a prickly pinecone.
Senses can feel abstract to a little one, so this story ties each sense to a body part and a single garden moment. Emilia points to her eyes, ears, nose, tongue and hands as she uses them, giving your child an easy gesture to copy. The lemon is the funniest page, with a face that puckers right up, and a strawberry follows for contrast. A prickly pinecone earns a giggly 'oops,' never an ouch. On the smell page the story slows down for a breathing game: smell the flower, blow the bubble. At the end, one warm cookie gets all five senses at once.
- five senses
- body parts
- exploring outdoors
- calm breathing
- sweet and sour
This story is coming to YouTube soon. You can read it below and print its coloring page now.
What Emilia learns
- see
- hear
- smell
- taste
- touch
- eyes
- ears
- nose
- tongue
- hands
Tips for grown-ups
- Point to each body part along with Emilia, then try it without the video: where's your nose? Where are your ears?
- Practice 'smell the flower, blow the bubble' together: a slow sniff in through the nose, then a long puff out through the mouth. It's an easy game to bring back at bedtime or after a big feeling.
- Do a sweet-and-sour taste test with a small piece of lemon and a strawberry, and watch each other's faces.
- On a walk, collect a few things to touch, like a smooth stone, a soft leaf or a bumpy pinecone, and describe how each one feels.
- At snack time, go through all five senses with one food, the way the story does with the warm cookie.
- Sit outside for one minute with your eyes closed and name everything you can hear.
Talk about it
After watching, ask:
- What did Emilia see with her eyes?
- What did she hear up in the tree?
- Was the lemon sweet or sour?
- Was the pinecone soft or prickly?
- What do you use to smell?
- How many senses do you have?
Try this together
Make a five-senses snack plate together, then ask about each food in turn: what does it look like, sound like when you bite it, smell like, taste like and feel like?
Free coloring page
Emilia Smells a Flower: print it (US Letter or A4) or color it on screen.
Read the story
One sunny garden morning, with the sky so blue,
Emilia found her five senses. You have them too!
Five senses: to see, and hear, and smell, and taste,
and touch! Let's try them all! No time to waste!
Her eyes help her see. What does she see?
A butterfly! Flutter, flutter, as pretty as can be!
She sees big and little things, and things near and far:
the sky, and the flowers, and... Pip! There you are!
Her ears help her hear. Shh! What's that sound?
A bird! Tweet, tweet! Up in the tree, not on the ground.
She hears the leaves whisper, so quiet, so small,
and a bee going buzz! She can hear them all!
Her nose helps her smell. Sniff, sniff! What's this?
A flower! Mmm, it smells so sweet! Ahh, what bliss!
Smell the flower... mmm. Now blow a bubble... whoo.
Smell the flower, blow the bubble. You try it too!
Her tongue helps her taste. She licked a lemon... lick!
Is the lemon sweet, or sour?
Sour! So sour! Her face went pucker, quick!
Then a strawberry... sweet! Mmm! Yummy! Lick, lick!
Her hands help her touch. She hugged Pip: so soft!
Then she touched a pinecone... prickly! Oops! Hands off!
Is Pip soft, or prickly?
Soft! So soft and snuggly, and a little bit tickly!
Then a warm cookie came, on a little white plate.
She saw it! She smelled it! She could hardly wait!
She touched it: so warm! And she heard it go crunch!
And she tasted it... mmm! Five senses, one munch!
Eyes to see, and ears to hear,
a nose to smell the flowers near,
a tongue to taste, and hands to touch:
five senses! Thank you, senses, very much!
Your turn! Point along with me!
What do we use to smell?
Your nose!
What do we use to see?
Your eyes!
What do we use to hear?
Your ears!
What do we use to taste?
Your tongue!
And what do we use to touch?
Your hands!
You know your five senses! Hooray for you!
Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, hands! Let's sing, everyone,
and point to each one! Five senses! What fun!
Then over to her backpack, for the very last pin:
a face with five senses! Click! Look at that grin!
Ten pins on her backpack! Her backpack is full!
Ten things she learned! Now, isn't that wonderful?
Every day, there's something new to know,
and every time you learn, you grow, and grow!
Bye-bye, friends! Keep learning! See you soon!
Questions parents ask
What is 'smell the flower, blow the bubble'?
A simple breathing game: a slow sniff in through the nose, as if smelling a flower, then a slow puff out through the mouth, as if blowing a bubble. Your child can practice it with Emilia on the smell page.
Is the prickly pinecone part upsetting?
No. Emilia gives a giggly 'oops' and takes her hand away, with no hurt and no tears.