Description:
Make our own Forest School version of a natural perfume.
Links to EYFS:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Communication and Language
Physical Development
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding of the World
Expressive Arts and Design
Activity:
For this weeks activity we wanted the children to experiment with different smells and textures by making their own 'perfume'. We started by putting some lavender into a container and adding water. We asked the children to find a suitable stick to crush the flowers to release their scent and then mix it together in the water. Once they were happy with the smell and consistency, we gave them some tubes with a pump action spray top. They then had to carefully try to tip their perfume into the tube which was a great way to help develop their fine motor skills. We provided some sticky labels so they could write their name on the bottles. They stuck the labels onto their bottles and the perfume was finished! They enjoyed asking each other to smell their different mixtures and could take them home if they wished.
We talked about different smells - which flowers and plants had the strongest and the weakest smells around the site. We talked about different textures - which flowers and plants had the smoothest surface and which had the roughest..?
Home Activity:
Try making your own 'perfume' using natural materials either from your garden or a local park (please only use plants or flowers that have fallen to the ground as we always encourage the children not to pick things). What happens if you combine different flowers and plants? What happens to the colour and consistency of the mixture when another ingredient is added? Which flowers and plants smell nice and which smell not so nice?