Exploring the Sense of Touch

In Science class with Mrs. Judi (falenconsulting@gmail.com), the preschool students learned about and explored the sense of touch and the importance of thumbs.

First, the students put their hands inside a sock to feel different items and guess what they were. There was a fork, a screw, and a rubber band in one sock. They were able to feel the different textures.?

Then, in another sock, they felt different temperatures. In one sock there was a foot warmer to feel hot. In another sock there was a bag of ice to feel cold.

Another student put one mitten on one hand and attempted to pick up a quarter from the floor. Another student put one glove on one hand and attempted to pick up the quarter from the floor. It was much easier to pick up the quarter using the glove rather than the mitten.

Then Mrs. Judi taped the thumb on the gloved hand down so the student only had use of the four fingers and the palm of her hand. She attempted to pick items up with only her fingers and palm. She attempted to turn the door knob, too. It was much more difficult to grip things without the use of the thumb.

Finally, the students tried to take a bite of an apple hanging on a string but they were not allowed to use their hands to hold the apple. They were instructed to put their hands behind their backs and bite the apple. Of course, the string moved and they were unable to take a bite. However, there was one very smart problem-solver who figured out how to use his shoulder and his chin to hold the string in order to get the apple to his mouth. He was almost able to take a bite.

The students talked about the importance of having thumbs on each hand. They talked about animals that do not have thumbs and are unable to pick things up or grip things like humans.