Here’s a fun way to teach your child about all those little bumps on the tongue aka, your taste buds. With a little taste test experiment, your child gets to make a “map” of their very own tongue!

To start, I set out a plate featuring four of the five tastes (we left off umami, although soy sauce would work in a pinch). Our plate featured: lemon for sour, a grapefruit rind for bitter, a salted pretzel for salty, and a spoonful of sugar for sweet.

Working with one food item at a time, Travis touched the food to the front, sides, or middle of his tongue. We weren’t entirely scientific about this, since probably he should have rinsed with water in between each touch, but he very studiously made a map of where he tasted each item the most.

The activity was great for spelling practice, too!

At the end, we looked up a map of the tongue online, to see whether what he had experienced matched up with existing maps. Adults might have fun joining in this activity for some tasty fun together.