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Discernment

Discernment > Hands-on options > Discerning noses and taste buds

Discerning noses and taste buds

Fun with food

Have fun conducting some blind smell or taste tests with your children.

Discussion point: The ability to discern good from bad is an important life skill.

You will need strips of cloth to use as blindfolds and various food items to sample.

  • Begin by explaining to your kids that when they identify foods based on their smell or taste it is called “discerning.” Tell them that some smells and tastes are easier to discern than others are.
  • Next, have your children put on blindfolds and present them with different foods to taste and identify. Start with some easy to identify tastes such as peanut butter, chocolate, banana, root beer, apple or orange juice. Then you can progress to more challenging taste tests such as 7 Up pop versus Sprite, corn syrup versus Aunt Jemima syrup, and dried cranberries versus raisins.
  • For smell testing, begin with easy to discern smells like vanilla, bread, banana or a cooked hotdog. Your harder to identify items could be a sliced orange, sandwich meat or cheese.
  • After your identification game, use the discussion questions to talk about how discernment is important in life.
  • Close in prayer, asking for God’s help in discerning right from wrong.
Questions for discussion
  • When do you need discernment?
  • Who teaches kids the difference between right and wrong?
  • How do parents decide on family rules of right and wrong?
  • Which two smells or tastes did you have a hard time identifying?
  • Besides asking your parents, how can you decide what is right or wrong?
Key concepts

Every day people need to decide between what’s right and what’s wrong. Sometimes telling between right and wrong is very obvious. Other times it’s more difficult to discern what’s right and what’s wrong.

When children are young, parents teach their kids what actions are right and what actions are wrong, and typically parents expect their children to follow a set of family rules. Ideally these rules are based on what God says in the Bible.

If their parents are around, kids can depend on their parents to help them decide between what’s right and what’s wrong, and what’s good or evil. God has also given us the Bible to help us understand the difference between righteousness and sin. In addition to the Bible, God gives us His Holy Sprit to serve as our counsellor or guide to help us to become discerning and wise.

Relevant Scripture

Job 34:2-4 “Hear my words, you wise men, and give ear to me, you who know; for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food. Let us choose what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

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