Touch

Skin is the body's largest sensory organ, containing receptors that are stimulated by touch, pressure, and temperature. When a receptor is stimulated, it triggers a series of nerve impulses, which make their way to your brain and interpret the signals -- and you feel the stimulus. The question in this part of our Sensory Pentathlon: Can you identify certain items just by touch?

Sock It to Me! In separate socks, place different small objects, such as a:

• bottle cap
• paper clip
• marble
• raisin
• grape
• jack
• Lego

Give each child one or more socks, and ask them to guess what's inside by feeling the object from the outside of the sock. If they can guess what it is, they get 2 points. If they can't, ask them to put a hand inside the sock and feel the object. If they guess correctly, they get 1 point. The child with the most points at the end of the game wins.

To play the game in a slightly different way, collect pairs of the same small objects as above. Put all the objects in a pillowcase, and ask the children to take turns reaching into the pillowcase and pulling out matching pairs. For a bigger challenge, use object pairs that are only slightly different from each other, such as small squares of different grades of sandpaper or different size marbles. The child with the most correct matches or who matches all the items in the least amount of time wins.

Got a Dollar? (for Bigger Brains). You have to know how to make change to play this game. Place two quarters, four dimes, and eight nickels into a sock. Then ask each child to reach into the sock and, solely by touch, pull out $1 in coins. The child who makes the dollar fastest without going over a dollar wins.

The Prize: Game of Pick-Up Sticks.