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Children will experience tasting different foods and keeping track of the group's likes and dislikes.
Age range: 3-6
Theme Area: Learning to Try New Things
Learning Goals:
Children will have opportunities to experiment with trying new foods.
Children will learn that information can be collected and presented on a chart.
Children will use a chart to talk about what they have learned.
Materials Needed:
Small paper drinking cups
A variety of fruits, some familiar and some unfamiliar, prepared in bite-size pieces (bananas, apples, pears, oranges, mangos, kiwis, dates, raisins, cactus fruit, etc.)
**IMPORTANT: Please be aware of children's food allergies before preparing this activity.
Chart paper
Marker
Directions:
Prepare a tasting carnival for the class. First, wash, peel and cut the fruits into small bite-size pieces. Place one bite-size piece of fruit in a paper cup.
On chart paper, write the names of the fruit as column heads on top of the paper.
Invite a volunteer to come up and choose a cup. Say, "Who would like to be the first taster? Great! Jaden, you can pick a cup, and then taste the fruit. Do you like the taste?"
Write the child's name in the column of the fruit he ate, and then put a smiling or frowning face next to the child's name to show whether he liked the taste of the fruit. Praise each child for trying, and let children know that if they really don't want to take a taste, that's okay, too.
Have children take turns choosing a cup and tasting the fruit. Continue to keep track of children's turns on the chart.
When you're done, ask children to look at the chart. Say, "Okay, let's take a look at what we learned from our tasting carnival. Who thought mangos were yummy? Who doesn't like bananas?"
Following Up:
Read books about trying new food, such as Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, and Yoko by Rosemary Wells.
Have a potluck tasting carnival for families and encourage everyone to bring in a favorite dish that others can try.
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