Nose for Kids
Your nose helps you smell yummy food, flowers, and even stinky socks! It also helps you breathe.
How Does Your Nose Work?
Smells travel through your nose to your brain. That’s how you know if something smells good or bad!
Fun Facts About Noses
- Your nose can tell apart many thousands of different smells.
- Some animals have very big noses — like elephants and pigs!
- Your nose warms and cleans the air before it goes into your lungs.
- People sneeze to clear out germs and dust from their nose.
Let’s Learn More!
Smell different things at home — a flower, an apple, a cookie — and tell someone what you smell!
More to Discover
- Your nose can recognize thousands of different smells.
- Breathing through your nose helps warm and clean the air before it reaches your lungs.
New words to learn: sniff, smell, breathe, nostrils
Try This: Close your eyes and try to guess a smell, like an orange or a flower.
🏫 Classroom Activity
Set out a few safe, familiar-smelling items (an orange peel, cinnamon, a flower) and have children close their eyes and guess each smell. Talk about why the nose warms and filters the air we breathe.
🏠 Homeschool Activity
Take turns pretending to sneeze and talk about why sneezing helps clear germs and dust from the nose. Draw a face and label the nose, then talk about all the different smells in your kitchen.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How does the nose work?
Smells travel through the nose to the brain, and the nose also filters and warms the air we breathe.
How many smells can the nose remember?
The nose can tell apart many thousands of different smells.
Why do we sneeze?
Sneezing clears germs, dust, or irritants out of the nose quickly.
Why does breathing through the nose help the lungs?
The nose warms and filters air before it reaches the lungs.
What activities help kids learn about the nose?
Guessing smells with eyes closed, talking about sneezing, sniffing foods at home, or coloring a printable worksheet.