An introduction to gardening
What You Need:
- Sunflower seeds
- Plastic cups (cardboard egg carton or recycled food containers)
- Soil
- Spray bottle
- Scoop to transfer soil to cup
What To Do:
- Encourage your child to scoop the soil into the cup. Fill to ¾ of the cup.
- Poke 2 holes in the soil.
- Place a seed in each hole and cover the seeds with soil.
- Spray the soil with water (this can be done daily).
- As the plant grows (it usually takes a few days for a small sprout to appear), talk about how the plant is growing.
Activity to have your preschooler try new foods
What You Need:
- Poster board - on the top write the name of the food he will be tasting (add a picture as well). Create 4 columns with the following picture headings: Happy face, face with no expression, sad face and compost bowl
- Stickers
- Food cut into small bite size portions (offer a variety of healthy, colorful and appetizing fruits or vegetables)
- Plates, forks.
What To Do:
- Show your child the chart and explain the faces –
- Love it = Happy Face,
- It’s just okay = Expressionless Face,
- Don’t like it or maybe next time = Sad Face,
- Didn’t try it = Compost Bowl.
- Have the child choose a food to taste and both of you take a bite of the food. Create an atmosphere of excitement about being adventurous in trying something new.
- Have him place a sticker under one of the faces and encourage them to say why he made that choice by describing how it tasted. Encourage all tasters to place a sticker in the columns.
- Repeat the process until all foods are tasted.
- Tally the columns and compare/contrast. Which food did we like the most?
*Never force or shame your child into trying something new. If he does not want to try it, he can put it in the compost bowl or try it another time. It may take a few tries before he decides he likes it.
Make mealtime a time for learning by including your child mealtime conversations.
What You Need:
None
What To Do:
- Make mealtime a time for learning by including your child mealtime conversations.
- When he is ready to eat solid foods, talk about how different foods look, feel, smell, and taste. For example, “Your poi is purple.” “This sweet potato feels smooth.” “The papaya smells and tastes so sweet.”
Safety Alert: Follow the recommendations of your health care provider (doctor or nurse) about introducing solid foods to your baby. To prevent choking, be careful about the texture and the size of the pieces you give him. Introduce one new food at a time to identify possible food allergies.
Watch the sweet potatoes magically change color!
What You Need:
- 1 Sweet Potato
- ¼ Cup Coconut Milk
- 1 Lemon or lime wedge
- A pinch of salt
- Coconut flakes (Optional)
What To Do:
- Your child can use a vegetable brush to gently clean the potatoes and pat them dry. Talk about how this part of the plant grows under the ground.
- Boil or steam the sweet potatoes, cool until easy to handle.
- Your child can peel the cooked potatoes with his fingers, the back of a spoon or butter knife.
- Using a serrated butter knife, your child can cut the potato into bite-sized pieces and put them into a bowl, mortar or poi board.
- Mash the potatoes.
- Measure and add in the coconut milk and pinch of salt. Mash together.
- Your child can squeeze a small amount of lemon juice over the mash. Watch the sweet potatoes magically change color!
- Mix and serve as-is or topped with coconut flakes.
Adapted from:
Farm to Keiki; Cooking, Gardening and Nutrition with Children
