Exploring Food

In preschool, we explore food during Snack Time.  This particular day in Miss Jeana's classroom, stick pretzels and canned green beans were offered.  Children can say yes or no.  You wouldn't be surprised by how many children immediately said no to green beans.  But guess what happened next?

We made letters from our pretzels.

We had fun showing our teachers how to do it.

Miss Carrie decided she could turn her pretzels into chopsticks.  Everyone wanted to try.

Then Miss Carrie made a green bean mustache!  It was so funny!

Some of us made pretzel mustaches.

More mustaches.

Then some of the children watched Miss Carrie taste the green bean.  She decided she liked it.  Soon, lots of kids were tasting green beans.  Some decided they didn't like it.  That's okay.  It's important to try foods to see if you like them or not.  Other children decided they liked the green beans.  Some even speared them with pretzel sticks or used pretzels like chopsticks.

The important takeaway here is to play with your food, explore it, and no stress about eating.  Cheer for the effort of trying it.  It's okay to put it down and not eat it.  It can stay on your plate or napkin until you're ready to clean up.

Sensory Play: Guest Post from Miss Julie

Young children are very kinesthetic learners. They need to explore, engage, and experiment with their hands and movements. Sensory activities are often very meaningful experiences for young children. Sensory activities can incorporate many concepts. It is very easy to incorporate literacy, writing, communication, descriptive words, vocabulary, science, cause/effect, art, and mathematical skills. It is also an activity that many kids will engage with for an extended length of time. Engaging with these activities is very conducive to language development as well. Keep in mind they can get very messy! We use smocks at our sensory table and remind students often that items stay inside the table. You can make your own sensory box with a midsize container or use them outside where they can get messy.

Shaving Cream

Sand

Water

Gems

Rocks

Mud (Students were amazed I let them turn our sand into mud last year. I did use a specific sand that dries out and is easily sanitized.)

Beans

Corn

Rice

Paint

Glue

Playdoh

Tape and toilet/towel rolls

Spinning

Putty

Jumping (On trampoline or holding hands)

Squishy Balls (sensory, spikes, foam)

Sticky Items

Making Gak

Glue and shaving cream together

Our Speech-Language Pathologist suggests pudding, mashed potatoes, sticky items, and squishy fruits as a sensory and tactile activity with various students. 

(Note from Carrie:  LET YOUR CHILD GET MESSY!)

We add funnels, cups, spoons, scoops, shovels, building materials, shapes, people, animals, etc. These activities allow for a lot of dump and fill play and it’s a great visual activity too. You can hide magnet numbers, letters, shapes, various items, and search for them. Whatever items around your house or yard you are okay with your child exploring will work!