Food, Colorful Food!
Books To Share
- Delicious Hullabaloo: Pachanga deliciosa by Pat Mora.
- Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert.
- I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson.
- Lunch by Denise Fleming.
- Pete's a Pizza by William Steig.
- Snuggle Mountain by Lindsey Lane.
Books To Show
- Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey.
- Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.
- Gus and Button by Joost Elfers.
- Max and Ruby’s Midas by Rosemary Wells.
- A Medieval Feast by Aliki.
- Red are the Apples by Marc Harshman.
Nametags
Cut out large gumdrop shapes in bright colors. If desired, use glitter paper that has a sparkly finish.
Poem
Animal Crackers
(By Christopher Darlington Morley)
Animal crackers, and cocoa to drink,
That is the finest of suppers, I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I please
I think I shall always insist upon these.
Read “Pineapple Surprise” by Nikki Grimes, “Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring” by Charlotte Zolotow, or other poems about colorful foods in Food Fight: Poets Join the Fight Against Hunger With Poems to Favorite Foods edited by Michael J. Rosen.
Flannel Board Story
Ghostly Colors
(Adapted by Jeanette Larson from a traditional story. Prepare ghost shaped pieces from white, red, brown, green, orange, and purple felt using the pattern. Prepare one last ghost out of multiple colors by using markers on white felt. Look through old magazines to find examples of the foods mentioned, and feel free to substitute other foods if necessary. Glue the shapes to tag board, and cut them out to create flannel board pieces.)
There was once a white ghost named Fred. (put a white ghost shape on the flannel board)
Fred was always hungry, but whenever he ate something, he turned the color of that food!
For example, when Fred at peanut butter, he turned ________ (let the kids fill in the color before you put up the brown ghost).
Or, when he ate grapes, Fred turned _______.
As you can imagine, this could be very strange for Fred. When he ate celery, he turned ______. Of course, when he ate oranges, he turned ____________. When he ate tomato soup, he turned _______.
But when Fred ate a handful of jellybeans, he turned all the colors of the rainbow (put up rainbow colored ghost) and finally he said, "Enough is enough. From now on, I'm only eating mashed potatoes, marshmallows, milk, vanilla ice cream, _______, _________, and __________ (let the kids suggest additional foods that are white). That way I'll always be a little white ghost! (put the white ghost back up)
Puppet Story
Tell the story Lunch by Denise Fleming using the puppets and props available in the Storytelling Set from Childcraft (# 3G362871 in the catalog). A puppet script for a more elaborate puppet show is available beginning on page 169 of Books in Bloom: Creative Patterns and Props That Bring Stories to Life by Kimberly K. Faurot.
Story
Tell the story, I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson with props to represent the pie, turkey, salad, cider, etc. By the time the old lady has eaten the entire Thanksgiving feast, she has grown to the size of a balloon in the holiday parade. Have a balloon on hand to show at the end of the story.
Songs
If All of the Raindrops
(Traditional camp song; music and alternate lyrics available at www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/raindrops.htm)
If all of the raindrops
Were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a world that would be!
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
If all of the raindrops
Were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a world that would be!
If all of the flowers
Were lollipops and tootsie rolls
Oh, what a world that would be.
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
If all of the flowers
Were lollipops and tootsie rolls
Oh, what a world that would be!
(Make up additional verses, changing the word “raindrops” and the type of candy or food.)
If all of the _________
Were ______ and _______
Oh, what a world that would be.
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
If all of the _______
Were ______ and ________
Oh, what a world that would be!
Crafts
Pizza Puzzle
Materials
- Paper plates
- Markers
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
- Pizza topping patterns
- Red, tan, green, yellow construction paper
Directions
Cut a piece of red construction paper to fill the center of the paper plate. Use a brown marker to color the edges of the paper plate for the crust and glue the red paper in the center to be tomato sauce. Cut toppings and paste onto the tomato sauce.
Games and Activities
Creative Dramatics
Use Cook-a-Doodle-Doo! by Susan Steven Crummel and Janet Stevens for creative dramatics. Have props available, such as a sack of chicken feed, a cookbook, a chef's hat, sifter, a ruler, measuring cups, etc. Tell this story about a rooster and his assistants who set out to make the best strawberry cake in the world. As you tell the story, have the children use the props to act out sifting, stirring, measuring, and, of course, eating! Serve strawberry cookies or cake.
Feed The Face
Paint a face on a big piece of poster board or cardboard. Draw the mouth very large and then cut out a big hole in the mouth. Lean the face up against a chair so that it is slightly tilted. Provide rolled socks, beanbags, or food shaped squeaky toys. Draw a line a few feet away from the face and let each child toss three or four items into the mouth. Give small prizes or stickers for each successful “feeding.”
Guest Speakers
Invite someone from the Texas Extension Service or a local restaurant to present a simple cooking demonstration of colorful foods that young children can prepare.
Refreshments
Gumdrop Domes
Give each child a small paper cup full of gumdrops. Provide 6-inch bamboo skewers, available in grocery stores, and wood toothpicks. Let the children build geodesic shapes with the gumdrops and toothpicks. After admiring the creations, they can eat them! Make sure the kids have washed their hands or provide wet wipes.
Poems
- "No, I Won't Turn Orange" in New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky.
- "Belinda Blue" in Something Big Has Been Here by Jack Prelutsky.
Audio Recordings
- "I Am a Pizza" on 10 Carrot Diamond by Charlotte Diamond.
- "The Woman Who Gobbled Swiss Cheese" on Two Hands Hold the Earth by Sarah Pirtle.
Videos
- Blueberries for Sal. (9 minutes)
- Green Eggs and Ham. (9 minutes)
- Pete's a Pizza. (6 3/4 minutes)
Web-based Activities
- Hungry Caterpillar
- www.kidsplaypark.com/games/caterpillar/
- Move the caterpillar around so that he can eat cherries and score points.
- The Fruit Game
- www.2020tech.com/fruit/
- Match wits against the computer as the player tries to remove the last piece of fruit.
Web Sites
- The Food Museum
- www.foodmuseum.com
- Popsicle Home Page
- www.popsicle.com
