Smelling Fresh Herbs
Crushed mint between two fingers: a smell they'll recognize for the rest of their life.
Smelling Fresh Herbs is a Montessori activity for a child aged 18 to 24 months. Area: Science and Nature. Time: 5-10 min.
What the activity builds
Awaken the sense of smell, the least used of all, and discover that a plant releases its scent when it's crushed.
The materials
- Two pots of very different fresh herbs: mint and basil, or thyme and chives
- A tray to carry them
- A bright spot to set them afterward, at their height
How to do it, step by step
- Set both pots on the tray, in front of your child.
- Take one leaf without picking it, crush it gently between thumb and finger, then bring your fingers to your nose and breathe in, slowly.
- Hold your fingers out to them, without saying anything, so they can smell it too.
- Do the same with the second plant.
- Then name each one, once: "mint," "basil."
- Leave the pots at their height: they'll come back on their own, and that's the point.
The parent's role
Show once, then step back. Model the motion, don't describe it. Crushing without tearing off the leaf is the real challenge here: if your child picks the whole leaf, say nothing, just show the motion again the next day. The control of error is in the smell itself, an uncrushed leaf barely smells at all.
Safety
Only offer culinary herbs you know well, never an ornamental plant or one picked outside. Some common houseplants are toxic. Stay close, leaves often end up in the mouth at this age, and that's harmless with mint or basil.
You remain the sole judge of what is right for your child. These activities are offered for educational and recreational purposes: they do not replace medical advice or the guidance of an early childhood professional.
Ways to adapt the activity
- Easier: one very fragrant plant only, like mint.
- Harder: three plants, and they point to the one you just smelled.
- Extension: add the same herb to a meal, and name it again at the table.
Up next
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