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I am working on creating a 5E lesson plan for working with Prekindergarten students, teaching them to use their 5 senses to talk about the difference between dirt and mud. The only thing we're doing is adding water to half of the dirt, and exploring it with 4 of our 5 senses. I definitely don't want them tasting the dirt, but I would like to incorporate how we use the sense of taste into the lesson somewhere. I was thinking of asking them if they had eaten dry cereal, and if there is a difference when they add milk, but I think they would mostly just say it tastes like milk. Any ideas?

I thought about this activity you could do but I dont really think it would give them an idea of the 'taste' for dirt or mud. I think it would be a fun activity for them to go along with this topic. You get brown jello pudding, oreo crumbs and gummy worms. The Jello would represent the mud, the crumbs would represent the dirt and the gummy worms gives them a visual of bugs that live in the dirt.

I think the idea of the cereal is good, maybe if you can demonstrate the activity using a cereal such as cocoa puffs or something that is chocolatey (brown like dirt, maybe even crush it up). Demonstrating to the students how when the cereal is added to the milk it turns brown. If there are no dietary restrictions, they could even taste the difference in the milk before the cereal (dirt) and after it is added. It wouldn't of course taste like dirt, but would demonstrate a difference in color, taste, and texture. The 'dirt cups' idea is great too! I just saw a recipe for 'taste safe mud' where you use a can of chocolate frosting and mix it with 1 1/4 c of flour. This can be used in sensory bins and probably to make mud!