written by Mindy Bender-Webster, PreK teacher
At the beginning of the week a variety of fruits and vegetables were set out at centers. The smorgasbord invited students to explore foods in a hands-on approach, as they engaged in comparing, sorting, and measuring. For example, the children noticed that some okra were smaller than others, placed all of the red foods in a group, organized circular foods, and used rulers and tape measurers to discover lengths and circumferences.
During centers on Wednesday, I told the class that we would be cutting the foods and taking a look at their “insides.” A group of six sat eagerly at the blue table as I went to fetch a knife and cutting board. When I returned it was clear that the party had already started without me. Carrots were snapped in half, layers of onion lay across the table, and seeds were oozing out of a squished tomato. Our watermelon had been broken into two pieces and small chunks of it were missing. One child’s sticky pink moustache provided evidence as to who had broken it.
Although I had originally intended for this to be a “touching” activity, it quickly developed into a tasting activity. The level of excitement attracted the attention of almost every student and it soon turned into a food frenzy. When I used an apple cutter to divide a Granny Smith, eight small hands reached in front of me and the apple disappeared before I could distribute the slices. I grabbed another apple to cut and noticed that a bite had already been taken out of it. The sound of crunching carrots filled the room and grapefruit juice squirted across the table like a fountain. One child searched for the seed of a plum with intensity, while another had buried his entire face into half of a cantaloupe. The sticky pink watermelon moustaches multiplied and citrus beards dripped from chins.
Opening the kiwano melon (or blowfish fruit) was perhaps the most amusing moment of our food adventure. The spiked orange fruit had intrigued us for days and we couldn’t wait to see what surprises were inside. “Oooohhhs” and “Ahhhhhs” surrounded the table as soon as the kiwano melon revealed its seedy green jelly. When I squeezed the fruit, causing the jelly to shoot into the air, cheers of enthusiasm were heard in harmony.
Our food experience ended with a trip to the compost. We hope that the food (well…what’s leftover) inspires the soil to grow us more food for future frenzies.