My Five Senses

1What is a sense?

Close your eyes tight. Now you cannot see the page. Open them again. You can see it!

Your eyes are how you find out about light and colour. A sense is a way your body finds out what is around you. You have five senses, and each one uses a body part you already know.

• Seeing — with your eyes
• Hearing — with your ears
• Smelling — with your nose
• Tasting — with your tongue
• Touching — with your skin, and best of all with your hands

2Seeing tells you colour, shape and size

Uwase looks at an avocado. Her eyes tell her three things: it is green, it is round, and it is small enough to hold in one hand. Only her eyes can tell her the colour.

3Hearing tells you loud and quiet

Ishimwe walks by the road. A moto horn goes beep! — that sound is loud. Then his friend whispers a secret — that sound is quiet. His ears know the difference.

4Smelling can even warn you

Smells can be lovely, like bread or roasting maize. But smell also keeps you safe. If you smell smoke, your nose is telling you that something is burning. Go and tell a grown-up at once.

5Tasting tells you sweet, salty, sour and bitter

Your tongue does this job.

• A ripe banana is sweet.
• Salt in beans is salty.
• A lemon is sour — it makes your face go all squeezy!
• Some green leaves are bitter.

6Touching tells you rough, smooth, hot and cold

Your skin covers your whole body, so you can feel with your hands, your feet, even your cheek. A stone is rough. A window is smooth. Water from the tap is cold. Fresh milk is warm.

7Your senses work together

Mama is roasting maize outside. Watch how many senses Keza uses at once:

• Her nose smells it before she even comes round the corner.
• Her ears hear the maize crackle on the fire.
• Her eyes see the golden brown cob.
• Her hands feel that the cob is hot, so she holds it carefully.
• Her tongue tastes that it is sweet.

Here is something surprising. When Keza has a bad cold and her nose is blocked, her food tastes boring — even her favourite maize! That is because smell helps taste. The two senses are friends. When one cannot work, the other one is weaker too.

Try it yourself

For each one, say the sense AND the body part, then tap Show answer to check.

1. A moto beeps loudly behind you on the road.
2. You find out that a lemon is sour.
3. Keza is in her room. She cannot see the kitchen, but she knows Mama is roasting maize.
4. You want to know if a stone is rough or smooth.
5. Name all five senses.

Answers

1. Hearing, with your ears.
2. Taste, with your tongue.
3. Smell, with her nose. Her eyes cannot help her — the wall is in the way!
4. Touch, with your skin — you would rub it with your hand.
5. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching.