Engage your child’s olfactory sense with this Montessori soap-matching activity that sharpens scent and smell discrimination, vocabulary, and focus.
This Montessori olfactory activity transforms ordinary bars of scented soap into a hands-on smell-matching game. Children close their eyes, sniff paired soaps, and match fragrances by scent alone, sharpening discrimination, focus, and descriptive language.
With just a tray and a few varied soap scents, you can create an engaging, independent lesson that builds sensory awareness. This activity also introduces rich vocabulary like “citrus,” “floral,” and “earthy.”
What is Montessori Sensorial Work?
The word sensorial comes from “sense.” In the Montessori approach, it refers to a child’s growing ability to refine all five senses—and beyond. This sensorial work includes the stereognostic sense (touch + movement).
The purpose of sensorial work is to help children notice what they take in through their senses.
They learn to sort, compare, and make sense of the world around them.
Dr. Maria Montessori believed sensorial learning begins at birth. Through touch, smell, sight, sound, and movement, the child explores their environment and begins to understand their place in it. As she famously said, the child is a “sensorial explorer.”
Focused Sensory Exploration: Isolating One Sense at a Time
Montessori sensorial materials are intentionally designed to isolate one single quality—such as size, color, texture, or scent. This isolation allows the child to focus deeply on refining that specific sense without interference or distraction from others. Today, we’re engaging the olfactory sense—the sense of smell—with a simple, hands-on activity that invites curiosity, concentration, and joyful discovery.
Materials and Supplies you will need for this Matching Soap Scents activity:
- A blindfold to isolate the sense of smell and remove visual cues
- Matching pairs of soap that look and feel alike, so the child isn’t guided by texture
- A basket or tray to hold and present the materials neatly
A child focuses only on the sense of smell while matching the pairs of soap.
The activity is completed when the child had matched all the pairs of soap.
Other Simple Ways to Engage the Sense of Smell
The kitchen is a great place to explore scent naturally. Cook with strong-smelling ingredients like onions, garlic, or fresh herbs and invite your child to notice the differences. Try using opaque spice jars for a blindfolded scent-matching game. You can also offer fresh fruits or vegetables—blindfolded—and ask, “What do you think this is?” These everyday moments help refine the sense of smell through real-life experiences.
Watch a How To Video Tutorial
Developmental Benefits of Olfactory (Smell) Activities
1. Sharpens sensory discrimination
Matching scents helps children notice subtle differences between smells—building the ability to compare, contrast, and classify. This skill strengthens cognitive flexibility and supports future scientific thinking.
2. Expands vocabulary and descriptive language
As children describe what they smell—“spicy,” “sweet,” “earthy”—they learn to express sensory experiences with precise words. This boosts communication and builds confidence in observation.
3. Enhances memory and recall
The olfactory system is closely linked to the brain’s memory centers. Scent-based games activate long-term memory and help children make strong mental connections through sensory cues.
4. Encourages concentration and focus
Identifying scents without visual or tactile input requires children to slow down and focus deeply. These moments of mindful attention strengthen concentration and patience.
5. Supports emotional regulation
Familiar and pleasant smells can be soothing. Scent exploration offers a gentle way to calm the nervous system and create a sense of safety and comfort during learning.
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