This post may contain affiliate links.

Try exploring spices from around the world with this cool sensory activity for kids! It’s perfect for a lesson on the sense of smell!

Using Herbs and Spices. Although spices and herbs have been used since ancient times, they are playing a new and important role in modern food preparation. They not only add unique flavors to our food, but contribute color and variety as well. Certain spices and herbs used alone, or in blends, can replace or reduce salt and sugar in foods. Seasoning with spices can be intimidating, especially if the recipe doesn’t call for it or only calls for a certain amount. It takes practice, but by understanding the flavors of spices, and tasting their unique flavors, you’ll know how to flavor up any meals with any kind of spice.

We have been exploring all different spices in our house! My kids love to help me in the kitchen. Lots of times while I am cooking they want to smell the spices or taste things they are not familiar with. I thought it would be really fun to teach them about some of the different spices that we use.

I also wanted to teach them about some of the spices around the world, where they come from and where they are commonly used. I made a little guess the spice activity for them. I left out all of the spices I used and let them sniff the bottle, then find the match on the page. It is a great activity for learning about your sense of smell!

How to Do the Exploring Spices Activity:

To make the Guess the Spice Chart, I just used two sheets of construction paper. One of the papers I cut up into smaller squares and glued them on as flaps.

Once the flaps are all glued on, choose your spices. I did 9 spices because that is what fit. You could make the flaps smaller if you want to do more. On the top of each flap I glued a little of each spice.

Under the flaps I wrote the answers. I wrote them way up at the top so the kids couldn’t see them easily.

I gave the sheet to the kids along with all of the spices I used and let them figure out which bottle matched each flap.

I loved some of the expressions my little guy made as he smelled the strong spices!!

After we smelled them all, I asked them which smells they recognized and if they knew what foods any of them are in. We also discussed where they originated from as well.

Spices From Around the World

Here are the origins of some of the famous spices used around the world.

Spices discovered in ancient Egyptian artifacts: coriander, fennel, juniper, cumin, garlic, onion and thyme

Spices with Indian origins: black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, cardamom, mustard seed

Spices with ancient Chinese or Asian origins: nutmeg and cloves, cassia (which is similar to cinnamon)

Ancient Mesopotamian spices: thyme, sesame, cardamom, turmeric, saffron, poppy, garlic, cumin, anise, coriander, silphium, dill, and myrrh

Colonial North American spices and herbs included: Sassafras bark, chamomile flowers, spearmint leaves, lemon balm leaves, raspberry leaves, loosestrife, goldenrod, dittany, blackberry leaves sage (most of these were used in teas and medicines.

South American spices: vanilla (Central America) variety of chilles and paprika, pink pepper, cayenne

I found a couple of fun resources to learn more about where spices are from and what foods they are used in. Spice Advice Encyclopedia lets you look them up and learn all about specific ones. The McCormick Science Institute has some really neat ancient history about spices around the world. Taste Atlas has a neat interactive Spice Map.

Try some more activities to learn about your senses!

Vital Choice-Your Trusted Source For The World's Finest Wild Seafood & Organic Fare - All With Free Shipping On Orders Over $99! Click Here!

List of spices is where we will be having an informative look at everyday spices. This will include descriptions and pictures, which will help you understand what each type of spice is and their common uses in the kitchen.

Whilst looking at the general purposes of spices i will also be looking at some great cooking ideas. I will include some easy to cook home recipes, which I enjoy and hope you get the same experience.

List of Spices A to Z

List of Spices A to Z is commonly used spices that can be found in most kitchens and pantries. I have alphabetical listed the common spices with their botanical names.

• Wasabi Spice (Wasabia japonica)

Spices And Condimentsbharsar Students Discount

List of Spices Tips

Remember, when using spices in cooking you need to be careful of the amounts used as these flavours can be over powering. So its always quite advisable to stick to the correct amounts in recipes, unless of course you already know what you like!

Also if you have had your spices stored for some time, then be aware that their potency can diminish over time. Therefore to store your spices correctly is always a good idea.I will cover storage in another section.

Spices are readily available online so you shouldn't have any problems finding which spices you need for the dish you are planning to cook. The majority of spices come in a dried, powdered or seed format.

Spices And Condimentsbharsar Students

There a few fresh spices that are available. Examples of these are chilli’s, ginger and galangal that I can think of.

Spices And Condimentsbharsar Students Portal

Cooking with spices is delicious and can be spicy to the taste so be careful! When cooking with spice it really transforms the food and can have great flavours and aromas when added to give a really tasty dish.

Spices And Condimentsbharsar Students Login

Spices also have other properties and are commonly used for medicinal purposes.This information can be found on other websites.

When eating food cooked with spices you will experience very distinct flavours and aromas, which I personally love.