Fruit tasting

Wednesday October 15 was not only my third class but also my 23rd birthday! I will never forget this special class!
I wanted these kids to be able to try fruits they have never tried before, however at my site, Goulds Elementary, these kids have tried foods I have never even heard of! They are very "food friendly" and aware of healthy foods. When I told them last week we were having a fruit taste test this week, they requested certain fruits that needed to be there!
Carlos, my nutrition educator did a great job reviewing what we had learned in the grains lesson. He had brought different grains to show examples and brought them again this week to make sure they had remembered. Of course their sponge-like brains had absorbed everything from last week! This week he played a game with the children making sure they could name a fruit for every letter of the alphabet. It was both educating and challenging. After they had learned about where fruits came from and how they can help us stay healthy, we started our taste test.
The taste test started out with natural peanut butter, honey, strawberry and plain yogurt. These were used as dipping for the fruit. We used both dried and natural fruit to show the children the different tastings of some fruits. For example, we had them try strawberries and dried strawberries. In our OFL book I had them fill out a food chart which they were able to write what they were trying, what it looked, and tasted like. It was very entertaining to watch them try fruits and see their reactions!
This week went very well because although they were not able to help cook anything they were very engaged in how they personally felt about each fruit. Next week is Vegetables which they were very excited about! To hear children say they are excited about vegetables is something to smile about! :)