Home-grown perfume
Create your own perfume from leaves, flowers and natural materials found in the garden.
Learning objectives:
- Recognise which plants have scented foliage or flowers
- Write for a specified audience
Curriculum links:
- Science: Explore aromatic plants and their properties
- English: Create a descriptive advertisement or product review
- Art & Design Technology: Engage in sensory exploration through scent and mixing
Key vocabulary
Perfume | Flowers | Pot | Scent | Nature | Fragrance | Extract | Mix
Preparation and equipment
Preparation
Gather all the materials together before the activity begins.
Equipment
- Plastic cups or recycled yoghurt pots
- Sticks or spoons for mixing
- Access to garden with a range of plants including herbs and flowers
- Water to add to make the perfume
Step by step
- Introduce the idea that some plants have leaves that have a strong smell. Some plants have flowers that are scented too. Why is this? There are also many other smells in the garden from the soil, dead leaves, compost and grass
- Hand out the pots and spoons or sticks
- Explain to the group that they can explore the garden to collect different smells – these can be leaves, petals or samples of soil or compost – to create your own perfume potions
- Add water and mix or bash the leaves gently to bring out the scent
- Come together in a circle. Ask each person to describe the smell of their perfume pot and think of a name for their perfume
- Pass around each other’s pots, taking time to sniff the pot
- Back in the classroom ask each pupil to write a description of their perfume. This could be in the form of an advertisment for television or a review for a magazine
Hints and tips
- If your garden lacks herbs, bring in some supermarket herbs and spices or fruit, such ginger, cinnamon, lemons and oranges