Farm to Table
Starter
Listen to the Wiggles sing Hot Potato and discuss different types of foods and how they can taste different depending on if they are hot, cold, mashed etc.
What are some foods you love?
Are there foods you don’t like?
What are some foods Mummy/Daddy/siblings like or don’t like?
How does it feel when you taste something new?
Foods come in all colours, shapes and sizes and also feel different (Soft, hard, chewy, crunchy. hot/cold). Tasting new foods can be scary but also exciting. Sometimes even if we tried a food yesterday and didn’t like it, we might try it again today and decide that we like it. Let’s try some new foods today!
Day
3
Welcome to...
TRY NEW FOODS
Choose 2-3 20-30 minute activities from the options below:
Taste the Rainbow
If possible, go together to the market/ supermarket (or order online) and choose which new fruits and vegetables (or healthy snacks) you will try. Prepare the foods together and put them out in little bowls. Create a spinning dial with different colours, like this one. Try whatever colour food your spinner lands on! Talk about how fruits with different colours can give us different things to help our bodies work well. What are 5 different coloured fruits and vegetables you can eat every day?
Blind Taste Test
Did you know? Our tongues have little bumps on them called taste buds - these help us tell the difference between sweet, salty, sour and bitter. For kids who have more questions - watch this video. We are now going to try different foods and you will tell us what your taste buds are telling you.
You will need:
Lemon juice - sour
Dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) - bitter
Soy Sauce - umami
Salty pretzels - salt
Sweetened Whipped cream - sweet
A printed chart like this one from kidsactivitiesblog.com (or make your own!)
*If you don’t have these ingredients - just use whatever you have in the house!
Before each tasting, introduce the food as number 1, 2, 3, 4. After each tasting, write the number in the column that matches the taste, Younger kids may need help with this. Bonus: Cut out pictures of foods from old magazines and newspapers and sort them into these 4 categories. Make a poster like this one from Creative Tots to showcase your work!
Sensory Science
Make jelly and watch how the powder and liquid change into a solid! What other things do you know that can change? What happens to water when you put it in the freezer? What happens to cream when you whip it? Once the jelly has set, set aside a messy area and make sure kids are wearing clothes that can get dirty - Let them play with the jelly with their hands. While they are playing, you can talk about how different foods feel different in our hands and in our mouths.
Who Am I?
Measure each person’s head and make a crown from the cardboard paper. With the regular paper, draw (or write) different foods. Attach a paper clip to the crowns. Attach a paper with the name of the food to each person’s crown. Taking turns, ask questions about your food: Am I crunchy? Am I sweet? Guess which food you are and then play another round! For this activity you will need:
Cardboard paper
Markers
Scissors
Glue or stapler
Paper
Paper clips
Indoor Active
Outdoor Active
Social
Screen Time
Books
Read or listen to ‘Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z‘ by Lois Ehlert. What new fruits and vegetables did you discover when reading the book? What would you like to try?
Food Ideas
For meal time or snack time, put out a range of new foods to try in muffin cups like this!