✍️Creative Writing·15 min·Sample Lesson

Paint Pictures With Words Using Your Five Senses

Here are two sentences. Which one makes a better picture in your head? "The cookie was good." "The warm cookie smelled like cinnamon, and the chocolate chips melted on my tongue." The second one, right? You can almost smell it! That is the magic of using your five senses when you write.

What You'll Learn

In this lesson you will: - Name your five senses. - Use sense words to make your writing come alive. - Write your own yummy or fun sentence full of sense words.

Your Five Amazing Senses

You have five senses that help you learn about the world. You SEE with your eyes. You HEAR with your ears. You SMELL with your nose. You TASTE with your tongue. You TOUCH and feel with your skin. Good writers use these senses to help readers feel like they are really there.

Sense Words Make a Picture

Sense words tell us how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels. Instead of "the dog was nice," try: "the fluffy dog had soft fur and a wet, cold nose." Now we can SEE the fluff and FEEL the cold nose! Little words like fluffy, soft, wet, and cold are sense words. They turn a plain sentence into a picture.

At the Beach

Let's go to the beach with our senses. We SEE blue waves and yellow sand. We HEAR seagulls squawk. We SMELL the salty air. We TASTE cold ice cream. We FEEL the warm sun on our arms. See how just one place can use all five senses? Great writers grab as many senses as they can.

Writer's Secret

Before you write about a place, close your eyes and pretend you are there. Ask yourself: What do I see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Feel? Then write down what you notice!

Match each sense word to the sense it uses.

Terms

Loud and squeaky

Bright red and shiny

Sweet and sour

Bumpy and rough

Stinky like an old sock

Definitions

Hearing

Smelling

Seeing

Touching

Tasting

Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.

❓

Which sentence uses sense words to make a better picture?

❓

Which sense do you use with your nose?

Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer

🎯

My Yummy Sense Sentence

1. Pick your favorite snack or food. 2. Take one bite and pay attention with your senses. 3. Draw a picture of your food. 4. Under your picture, tell a grown-up a sentence about how it LOOKS, SMELLS, TASTES, and FEELS. Try to use at least three sense words, like crunchy, sweet, or warm. Have the grown-up help you write your super sense sentence next to your drawing!

Want to keep learning?

Start Learning Free