Can Children Learn Science through Food Activities? Absolutely!

In previous posts, we discussed ways to add nutrition education into various areas of the curriculum.  So what does science have to do with food?  Let’s explore ways we can merge science into food experiences.  I hope that you will share some of your ideas too.

Science Skills Learned through Food Experiences

• Cause & Effect
• Chemistry
• Temperature
• Testing Hypothesis
• Physical Properties of Food
• Investigating the Origins of Food
• Life Science (growing foods in the garden)
• Changing Forms – liquids, gases, solids
• Predictions & Observations

Food experiences can inspire children’s curiosity, thinking and problem solving, which offers opportunities to make predictions and observations.   Some experiences you plan can stimulate all the senses.  Ask questions, let the children make hypothesis on how a product may change, discuss temperatures of foods cooked and uncooked, put an item in a blender discuss what it looks like before it is blended – let children discuss how it might change, blend food item and discuss the final state of the food.  There are so many possibilities to incorporate science learning into food experiences.

Turnip (can use other foods)

• Show a turnip seed packet & seeds.  (many children may not have ever seen a turnip)
• Show a turnip from its raw state, then show a peeled turnip.  (ask children have they eaten a turnip before)
• Pass the turnip around for the children to feel & smell. (encourage discussion)
• Provide a uncooked sample & a cooked sample. (ask children how they think it will change when you cook the turnip)
• Discuss the differences in the uncooked & cooked turnip.
• To extend the lesson, have a farmer or home gardener come to talk with class about growing food.
• Have children plant a seed and make predictions on what will happen with it.  As the plant grows it will provide additional opportunities for discussion and learning.
• Another food item to use is potatoes, many children have only seen them as french fries.  Of course, the possibilities are unlimited on fruits and vegetables.
• Read & have an activity for “The Great Big Enormous Turnip” by Anna Award or “The Enormous Potato” by Aubrey Davis. I will post an activity on my next blog.

Apple Slice Science

https://www.education.com/activity/article/Apple_Slice_Science/

What is my Preschooler Learning in the Dress-Up Area?

When children put on dress-up clothes and pretend to be grown up, they are discovering more than how it feels to stumble in adult-sized shoes.  “Pretend play” helps children to understand how other people think and feel.  It gives children the opportunity to discover new experiences or new places they can see only in their imagination. This is called symbolic thinking, and it is an important, complex skill necessary for many tasks in life, including language and communication, social skills, and even algebra and geometry.

When we watch children playing in dress-up clothes, we notice they often use problem-solving skills they see adults use.  Negotiation and shared responsibility become easier when children are pretending to be adults.  They are gaining a sense of adult rules and expectations.

Sometimes children may find the dress-up area a place to confront fears and work through stressful situations.  By pretending to be a doctor or a monster, a child gains a sense of power over the unknown.  By acting out a traumatic event and talking about it, the event becomes less scary to the child.

Often boys will wear dresses or girls might put on a necktie.  These are learning experience that help children explore what it means to be a boy or girl, and that our gender does not change simply because of what we are wearing.

Stay tuned on the next blog for suggestions for ways to encouraging dramatic play in your classroom.

 

Preschoolers – Learning to Get Along with Others

The social skills children learn today will will be used throughout their life.  Making and keeping friends is an important challenge for preschoolers.  As providers and parents we play an important role in encouraging and teaching children how to get along with others.

Typically, preschoolers prefer to play with other children, rather than alone.  You can encourage cooperative play by allowing children lots of chances to choose playmates and decide how they will play.  It is more fun to play doctor if you have a patient.  With the teacher’s help, they have to figure out how to find everyone a turn and a fair share.

When conflicts come up, we encourage children to come up with solutions.  You might say, “Hmm, there is only one green crayon and tow children who want to use it.  What can we do?”  Let them help in making decisions as problem solving will an important skill they learn while young.

Try to engage children in cooperative games more than competitive ones.  They are much too young to worry about winning and losing, so play games in which everyone contributes.

We encourage children to identify the feelings of others by pointing out how they have hurt another child and how they might fix things to make them better.  A teacher might say, “Katie said she’s very angry.  Remember when Darius broke your toy? What do you think you can do to help Katie rebuild the tower you knocked over?”  Helping children learn empathy gives them the opportunity to right the wrong.

There are many ways you can encourage children to help others.  They might make cards for a sick teacher or child, take water to the workers outside, or help with a task.  It is important for children to experience how good it feels to just be a friend!

 

It’s Not Just for Fun: Play is Children’s Work

Children learn through play.  It is really serious business for them.  Just watch how hard a child works at stacking blocks to make a tower.  Play is natural to all children.  Many different kinds of activities help children understand themselves, discover how things work and solve problems.

It may seem frustrating when a child grows tired of a toy.  It seems that they play with them for only a short time.  Most toys teach a skill.  When the child has learned the skills, they are ready to move on to something else.  For example, a shape sorting toy keeps a toddler busy trying to put the circle object in the circle hole.  When he/she can do this over and over, it is not challenging any more.  The child is now ready to learn a harder task such as a puzzle with different shapes.

Play is important for all areas of development.  A child’s play changes as his/her abilities and interests change.   Stay tuned the next blog will discuss the four main kinds of play.