ELA Educator Preparation
Food Wall Display Create a Food wall display featuring labeled pictures cut from grocery store flyers and magazines. Sort the foods into categories, for example, fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry. You might also want to create sections on southwestern or Mexican cuisine (including guacamole, tacos, nachos) and Asian cuisine. In addition to grocery store flyers and magazines, you can find food pictures on the Internet.
Group Cookbook Children bring home an index card for families to send in a favorite family recipe. Photocopy each recipe and bind them into a Group Cookbook. Make one book for each child. Have children create illustrations for the cover and the recipes. You may want to plan a family food day and have families bring in a recipe from the Group Cookbook.
Week 1: Family Salsa Sharing food together is a wonderful way to build a sense of community. Invite family members to come make salsa with the group. Ask family members to fill out a small card with any dietary restrictions or allergies so that any foods children or grown-ups may be allergic to are identified. Watch the video Between the Lions “Chicks and Salsa” together, sing favorite food songs, showcase children’s artwork and writing, and enjoy the delicious food!
Week 2: Visit a Farm Set up a visit to a farm. Ask the owners to give the group a tour. Explain that children are learning about different foods, especially vegetables, and how food is grown. Seeing the plants and animals raised on a farm helps city children connect with where their food comes from. Children experience the natural world in a new way and connect the importance of farming to their lives. Have children look for ingredients they may want to put into the vegetable soup they’ll help to make at the end of the week.
Week 3: Grocery Store Visit Set up a visit to a local grocery store. Ask the manager to give the class a tour. Explain that children have been learning about different foods, especially fruits and vegetables. Ask children to name and describe the different fruits and vegetables they see. Talk about their colors, sizes, and shapes. You may want to bring the book A Fruit Is a Suitcase for Seeds. How many fruits and vegetables from the book can children find in the grocery store? Or, you may want to create a shopping list and have children search for the ingredients to make vegetable soup.
Book-Browsing Boxes Create a Food book-browsing box with fiction and nonfiction books about food and cooking. Include books about foods children are familiar with as well as foods from diverse cultures. Label the box with words and a matching picture or symbol, such as a fruit or vegetable, so children can identify the contents and browse on their own. Add new alphabet books to the ABC book-browsing box.
Educator Tip: As always with food activities, be sure to check for children’s food allergies.