Taste Testing in the Kitchen

After the whirlwind of Christmas and the New Year, getting the house back to normal and getting over some kind of bug this week, we are doing our first formal lesson since the middle of December. Today we spent a good chunk of time in the kitchen talking about the sense of taste. It was a HUGE hit! James tasted granulated sugar, powdered sugar, honey, salt, lemon juice, nuts, cucumber, mini saltine cracker, bit in to an orange peel (to taste something bitter), cheese whiz, sipped milk and water too. He was eager to taste something spicy until I mentioned salsa then that idea was nipped in the bud. He became anxious when I wanted him to close his eyes and let me place something in his mouth. He saw that I had the saltines in my hand and when I told him I wouldn't give one to him because he peeked, he relented and closed his eyes. I put a dab of cheese whiz on my finger and put it in his mouth. He made a funny face. He doesn't like cheese whiz! I tried to give him a saltine with cheese whiz and he told me to take it off. He only wanted the cracker. I don't get this kid's taste buds at all. We talked about texture a little also with the 2 different kinds of sugars and I quizzed him on ALL the different kinds of textures of foods he might like. Surprisingly, he only discounted slimy, mushy and sometimes moist. I had made some colored flashcards of tastes, textures and temperature some time ago in hopes of using them to encourage James to try new foods. I mean, even the video mail from Santa asking him to NOT be afraid to try new foods didn't work! See the video from Santa
 He couldn't tell me that ice cream was sweet. He associated it with cold first. And the sour taste was a real winner this morning. He made "lemonade with the lemon juice, water and a little pinch of sugar. Now he is asking for lime juice to mix in there too. Go figure. The only thing I can think is that sour registers the strongest taste in his mouth...even more so than the sugar although the sugar made him smile. He kept sticking his finger in the lemon juice. Tomorrow we will talk about the sense of smell and along with the smells of the kitchen, we may venture outside to smell some pine cones and things we can find in the woods behind our house.